
THE 






ILLIITOIS 



CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY 



OFFERS FOR SALE 



Over 1.500.000 Acres 



SELEOTEX) 



FARBIING AND WOOD 




IN TRACTS OF FORTY ACRES AND UPWARDS, 



TO SUIT rURCHASERS, 



ON LONG CREDITS AND AT LOW RATES OF INTEREST, 



; IT U AT E D 






ON EACH SIDE OF THEIR RAILROAD, EXTENDING ALL THE WAT FROM THE 
EXTREME NORTH TO THE SOUTH OF 

THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



Chicago Daily Press, Print, 45 Clark St. 




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EXPLAjSATIO.N 

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'/ic /Ihnoit l.lltnil Hull Hnid CcillJIMIy. yyiHun 
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THE 



'Hiiioi^ Ccutnil llailroa^ Coiupnig 



OFFERS FOR S^iLE 



OVER 1,500,000 ACRES 



SELECTED 



FARMING AND WOOD LANDS, 



IN TRACTS OF FORTY ACRES AND UPWARDS, TO SUIT PURCHASERS, 



LONG CREDITS AND AT LOW RATES OF INTEREST^ 



ON EACH SIDE OF THEIR RAILROAD, EXTENDING ALL THE WAY FROM THE 
EXTREME NORTH TO THE SOUTH OF 



THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



CHICAGO : 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAIL ROAD OFFICE. 

18 5 7. 



Jdll 



NOTE. 

It has been found impossible to answer the large num- 
ber of letters that are daily received, in reference to these 
lands. To such, this Pamphlet will be sent, in reply to 
the questions asked. 



' u~ 



I 



«; 



1,500,000 ACRES 

OF 

Illinois Central R. R. Lands. 



NOTICE TO PURCHASERS. 

The lands offered for sale by the ILLINOIS CENTEAL RAILROAD 
COMPANY were granted by the United States to the State of Illinois by the act 
of 20th September, 1850. All the conditions stipulated in that act have been 
fulfilled, and the title to these lands can no longer be affected by legislation. 

By the act of 10th February, 18ol, the State of Illinois incorporated this Com- 
pany and directed the Governor to convey to said Company, by a deed in fee 
simple, all of said lands, &c. ; which was done. 

The said act further requii-ed said Company to execute a deed of trust of all of 
said lands, &c., to certain persons named therein by the State, to secrnre the per- 
formance of the conditions and stipulations requii-ed thereby. The bonds issued 
under this trust are being paid as fast as the money is received from the sale of 
the lands set apart for that purpose. All bonds received for lands, or purchased 
with the proceeds of such lands, are officially cancelled by the trustees. 

Where payment is made in full, the jiurchaser at once obtains his title from the 
trustees appointed by the State. If the sale is on credit, however, the title is not 
given till final payment is made, but the purchaser receives a contract, stipulating 
that such title Avill be given on full payment, and compliance with the conditions 
specified therein. Each payment for lands sold on credit can be made in Con- 
struction Bonds or cash ; and if in the latter, it is applied to the purchase of such 
bonds ; and the particular tract is at once exempted from liability, and a perfect 
title given by the trustees — being, hi fact, the fu'st conveyance under the authority 
of the General Government. 

The sales are made under the direction of the trustees, and are authorized by 
an act of the State legislatm-e. The lands thus sold ai'e exemj^ted from taxation 
by said law of the State till finally paid for. 

The trustees execute deeds for all lands sold ; and the conveyance by said trus- 
tees, m the terms of the bw, is " an absolute title in fee simple," and oper- 
ates " as a release or an acquittance of the particular tract or tracts so sold from 
all liabihty or incumbrance on account of said deed of trust, and the issue of said 
bonds — so as to vest in the purchasers a complete and uadefeasible title." 

Thus it is seen, that the act of Congress malting the grant, secukes the tsitle 
IN PURCHASERS, whatever may be the action of the State ; and the law of the 
State incorporating this Company, M'hile amply securing the bondholders, is alike 
careful to protect purchasers of the lands, and to secm^e to them perfect and com- 
l)lete titles in any and every contingency. 

JOHN WILSON, 
Land Commissioner Illinois Central R. R. Co. 

Chicago, Janiiai'y 1, 1857. 

Office in Illinois Centr.\l R. R. Depot, Chicago, Illinois. 

(5) 



THE RAILROAD ROUTE. 

The road commences at Dunleith, a town on the Mississippi 
Eivcr, in the extreme north-west of the State, opposite the city 
of Dubuque, in Iowa. It passes south 16 miles through Galena, 
the centre of the great lead region of the West ; then easterly 
60 miles, after which it takes a southerly course in an almost 
straight line to Cairo, the extreme southern point of the State. 
Cairo is situated at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, and is the point at which produce and merchandise are 
exchanged with the numerous steamboats navigating these great 
rivers. A branch of the Road leaves the main line at Centralia, 
118 miles above Cairo, diverging to the north-east, and termi- 
nating at Chicago, on Lake Michigan. 

Two daily passenger trains are now running between Dun- 
leith and Cairo, as also between Chicago and Dunleith, and 
Chicago and Cairo, besides numerous freight trains, as required 
by the varying business of the Road. 

The " Racine and Mississippi," " Dixon Air Line," " Ga 
lena and Chicago Union," " Chicago, Burlington, and Quin- 
cy," " Rock Island," " Extension Peoria and Oquawka," 
" Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis," " Great Western," " Terre 
Haute and Alton," and " Ohio and Mississippi " Railroads, 
are all now in running order, east and west across the State, 
and connecting with the " Illinois Central Railroad " at 
various points. In addition to the above, the " Fort Wayne 
and Lacon," " La Salle and Lafayette," and " Atlantic and 
Mississippi Railroads," now in course of construction, also con- 
nect with the " Illinois Central," and open up the entire 
State, at short distances apart. By completing 701 miles of 
North and South road, this Company has formed connections 
with all these East and West roads, enabling passengers or 
freight to reach any part of this State, or the United States, 
with the greatest expedition. 

At every ten miles throughout its entire length, commodious 
station and freight houses have been erected, and around almost 
every one of these, villages are rapidly springing up ; many of 
them already containing a population of from 500 to 3500 per- 
sons, where three years ago there was not a single house. The 



road is built in the most superior manner, and is stocked with 
the very best locomotive engines, passenger and freight cars. 
Charges for transportation of passengers and freight arc mod- 
crate. 



LOCATION OF THE LANDS. 



The lands arc situated on each side of the Railroad l^etween 
Dunleith and Cairo, on the main line, and Chicago and Centra- 
lia, on the Chicago branch. Traversing the entire State from 
north to south, it therefore passes through a great variety of 
climates, and purchasers are enabled to suit their inclinations 
in their selections. The road passes immediately over some of 
the lands ; others vary in distance from it from one to fifteen 
miles. 



PEICES AND TEEMS OF PAYMENT 

Will vary according to location, quality, distance from stations, 
villages, &c. &c. 

Lands immediately adjoining town sites, and which may soon 
be subdivided into town lots, or from other causes rise in value 
with great rapidity, are, of course, held at higher prices, and 
on somewhat shorter credits ; but the best farming lands, in the 
most desirable localities, can be purchased at from |6 to $30 per 
acre, according to location, and contracts for deeds for the same 
may be made until further notice, stipulating the purchase 
money to be made in five payments, each with the succeeding 
year's interest added in advance. The first payment to be made 
in two years from the date of the contract, and the others annu- 
ally thereafter. 

Interest ivill be charged at only three per cent, per annum-. 
As a security for the performance of the contract, the first two 
years' interest must be paid in advance. For instance, suppose 
you buy on the 1st of March, 1857, eighty acres of selected 
prairie land, at $10 per acre, on the foregoing terms. Your 
account, until a deed is given, would stand thus ; — 



8 

March 1, 1857. Received contract for a Deed for 80 Acres of Land, 
at $10 per acre, ($800,) and paid two years' interest, at 
three per cent, per annum, in advance, .... $48 00 
" " 1859. Paid first instalment of principal, being one 

fifth of $800 $160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance due, 
($640,) at three percent, per annum, ... 19 20—179 20 
■ " " 1860. Paid second instalment, being oilfe fifth, as 

above 160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance due, 

($480,) as above, 14 40—174 40 

" " 1861. Paid third instalment, being one fifth, as above, 160 00 
One year's Interest in advance on balance due, 

($320,) as above, 9 60—169 60 

" " 1862. Paid fourth instalment, being- one fifth, as 

above, 160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance due, 

($160,) as above 4 80—164 80 

" " 1863. Paid fifth instalment, being one fifth, as 

alcove, and received Deed, .... 160 00 



Making the full payment, principal and interest, . . . $896 00 

It must be understood, however, that at least one tenth of the 
lands purchased shall be fenced and cultivated each year, for 
five years, so as to have one half of the purchase under improve- 
ment by the time the last payment becomes due. It will also 
be borne in mind, that until the payments are made, and the 
Deed of conveyance granted, these lands are not subject to taxa- 
tion, by the 22d Section of the Act of the Legislature, approved 
February 10th, 1851. 



THE VALUE OF THE LAND FOR FARMING PURPOSES. 

Illinois is known throughout the United States as the Gar- 
den State of the Union, and from the extraordinary fertility of 
the soil, is justly entitled to the name. Its vast tracts of rich, 
rolling land were called by the first French settlers " Prairies," 
which, translated, means " natural meadows," and such they 
are ; almost the wdiole State is a natiu'al meadow, lying in high, 
beautifully rolling, or gently undulating Prairies, with a soil of 



9 

surpassing and inexhaustible fertility, all ready for the plough, 
without a rock, stump, or even stone, to interrupt its action. 
The difficulties experienced in the Eastern States, or in Western 
timbered States, in bringing lands under cultivation, arc un- 
known here ; the soil is readily turned over at the rate of two 
acres to two acres and a half a day, by a heavy team of horses 
or two yoke of oxen, or it may be contracted to be worked at 
from $2 to $3 per acre, and an active practical man can readi- 
ly cultivate ten acres here, against one in the Eastern or 
Middle States, taking them as they run, while the yield per acre 
will be infinitely greater. With far less labor, a farm purchased 
here at the low rates ruling at present, will yield more than one 




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F t 




Wr «v* 






BREAKING PKAIHIE. 



there valued at 8100 to $150 per acre. The soil is a dark, rich 
vegetable mould, varying from two to eight feet in depth, capa- 
ble of producing any thing in the greatest profusion, which will 
grow in these latitudes at all, and absolutely inexhaustible in its 
fertility. Instances could be multiplied of land cropped for 
twenty to thirty successive years, without the addition of a 
pound of manure, on which the growth, last season, was just as 
vigorous and the yield as profuse, as on any other of the series. 
Crossing the prairies are belts of white oak, hickory, black 
walnut, ash, and maple timber, of excellent quality, generally 
following the courses of the streams, varying from half a mile 
to five miles in width, in many places running far out on the 
2 



10 

prairie, or scattered in groves here and there over its surface. 
The State, as a general thing, is loell ivatered, the streams usu- 
ally running over sandy or stony beds ; besides ponds of con- , 
stant stock-water, which are found in all parts of the prairies. 
For household purposes, excellent soft water is found at from 
10 to 25 feet in depth, generally springing from a stratum of sand. 
Settlers from the East are always agreeably disappointed in the 
character of the land in this respect ; a prevailing though erro- 
neous impression having gone forth, that on the prairies good 
water was difficult to be found. The first crop, on newly-broken 
prairie, is generally Sod Corn; as this requires no cultivation 
between planting and gathering, the farmer has ample time to 
get things comfortable about him, and prepare the land for sow- 
ing winter wheat before cold weather comes on. From this sod 
crop it is the expectation to realize sufficient to pay the cost of 
breaking, improvements, and general expenses, placing the land 
in a high state of cultivation on the opening of the second season. 
It has averaged from thirty to thirty-five busliels per acre, often 
running up to fifty. Wheat averages from twenty-five to thirty 
bushels per acre, frequently reaching thirty-eight and forty, and 
during the past season has been selling at the various railroad 
stations at from $1 00 to $1 50 per bushel. The second crop 
of corn averages from sixty to eighty bushels, frequently giving 
one hundred. 

By the great network of railroads, reaching all portions of the 
State, every farmer is comparatively near a market ; since, ow- 
ing to the competition amongst Chicago buyers, each railroad 
station becomes a local market for the producer, where Chicago 
prices, less the expense of transportation, can be readily com- 
manded. Chicago is now the greatest primary Grain depot in 
the World. Thirteen railroads, all of great length, centre here, 
keeping all parts of this State and the United States in constant 
and close connection with it. Vessels have loaded at its docks 
direct for Liverpool, to go through, via the Lakes and St. 
Lawrence, without any transshipment of cargo ; and from its 
superior harbor and extraordinary natural position, it must ever 
be the great centre of trade for the West and North-west. To 
the settler in the central and southern portions of the State, 
peculiar advantages are opened by the completion of the " Ohio 



11 

and Mississippi Railroad," and its connection with the " Illinois 
Central," enabling him to command the Chicago market to the 
North, St. Louis to the West, Cincinnati to the East, and the 
Mississippi towns and New Orleans, via Cairo, to the South. 
This is a particularly desirable section for producing grain or 
choice fruit, or raising stock ; and is already considerably set- 
tled by a most substantial farming population, which has grown 
up into comfort and affluence by its surprising advance in pro- 
ductiveness and wealth. The soil there is of a warmer nature, 
the Avinters mild, and springs early ; grain matures several 
weeks before that in the Genesee Valleys, and reaching the 
Eastern markets so much in advance of all others, commands 
the high rates always 'ruling before the incoming of new crops. 
Attention is requested to the letters from Messrs. Root, Arter, 
Gilson, Phillips, and Williams, residents of this section, as illus- 
trative of what may be there accomplished. 

Land may be selected in accordance with the individual tastes 
of purchasers ; some sections of country are best adapted to 
corn, others to wheat, some prodacing both equally well ; some, 
again, seem peculiarly favorable to stock raising, others to fruit 
growing or fancy gardening ; some portions are heavily tim- 
bered ; on some timber just covers one corner, or is scattered 
in occasional groups or groves. Frequently, in a ^single section 
of 640 acres, all these qualities are combined, together with 
living water ; and the settler finds a home, only requiring a mod- 
erate expenditure of labor to establish him comfortably for life. 

The system of long credits and low rates of interest estab- 
lished by the Company is estimated, by experienced farmers in 
the State, as being worth, to the actual settler, from thirty to 
fifty per cent, per annum, by enabling him to invest his ready 
money immediately in the cultivation of the land, so that from 
his being able to take up so much more than the man who locks 
up his funds in a cash purchase, and the immense returns from 
land placed under cultivation, he soon finds himself far in ad- 
vance. In proof of this, instances could be multiplied, of par- 
ties who have cleared the entire cost of their lands over and 
over again from a single crop ; and the reader is" referred to the 
letters appended to this pamphlet, for numerous examples of 
the more average success of prairie farming operations. 



12 



ADVANTAGES OF SETTLING IN ILLINOIS. 

Settlers should bear in mind, that the country west of the 
Mississippi is not yet opened by raih-oads, and cannot be for sev- 
eral years to come ; also that the lands along the watercourses 
and proposed lines of railroads have been, to a large extent, 
entered by speculators, and are held at high rates, and almost 
invariably /or cash, or a large portion cash, and but short credit 
on the remainder — the farmer, therefore, is either obliged to 
pay a hi^h cash price for his land, or to locate at some distance 
from a market, thereby incurring great expense in the trans- 
portation of his material and crops; also that Chicago, sit- 
uated as it is at the head of Lake navigation, must, necessarily, 
continue to be the centring point for all surplus produce raised, 
west, north-west, or south-west from it, since, until some channel 
of transportation is opened cheaper than that of the Lakes and 
canals, all raw materials must seek that route as the only profit- 
able outlet to a final market. Now, the very difference realized 
in the sales of crops, in such a State as Illinois, opened as it is 
with railroads through every part, and markets at every station, 
over those ruling west of the river, would, in a few years' time, 
pay the first cost of the land over and over again, and, in the 
end, leave an estate vastly more valuable, from its being so 
much nearer a market, in the centre of a well-improved, highly- 
cultivated State, and forever clear of the expense which must be 
incurred by the transshipment in crossing the Mississippi, and 
the freights to be paid on a greater distance of transportation. 

To illustrate this in detail, it will be necessary to enter into 
the following calculations : — 

Allowing, as a fair average farm, 160 acres of land ; appro- 
priating 40 acres to building, orchard, and pasture grounds, 
upon which may also be raised the vegetables for the family, and 
part of the provender for the stock ; 20 acres for mowing ; 30 
acres for wheat ; and 70 acres for corn ; and assuming that the 
wheat and corn crops are the only ones from which the farmer 
will have any surplus, — and Ave probably have as fair a basis as 
can be gained for the argument. With fair farming, 20 bushels 
of wheat, and 50 bushels of corn, to the acre, will make a very 
low estimate, being not by any means a fair average yield, 



13 

upon these rich prairie lands ; but take these for the crops, and 
30 acres in wheat, at 20 bushels per acre, is . . 600 bushels. 
TO acres in corn, at 50 bushels per acre, is . . . 3500 bushels. 
Retaining 200 bushels of wheat for seed and family use, and 
900 bushels of corn for working stock, and fattening animals 
for family use, both of which allowances are undoubtedly suffi- 
ciently large, the farmer has left for market 400 bushels of 
wheat, and 2600 bushels of corn, — in all, 3000 bushels of 
grain. This being a strictly agricultural country, it must de- 
pend upon an eastern or foreign market for the sale of its sur- 
plus produce ; and therefore a bushel of grain upon the farm is 
worth just so much less than the cost of carrying it to market. 
The cost of transporting wheat or corn by railroad is about 
8 cents per bushel per hundred miles, and for meats, about 15 
cents per 100 pounds per hundred miles. The average cost per 
bushel for transporting wheat or corn to Buffalo, from Chicago, 
by way of the Lakes, will not exceed 7 cents during the season 
of navigation, and from Cleveland to Buffalo it is about 4 cents 
per bushel. 

The comparative advantages of different points in the West, 
for farming purposes, being the object which it is desirable to 
arrive at, it will be necessary, in making a comparison, to take 
for one locality the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio ; for another, a 
point 80 miles west, north-west, or south-west of Chicago, Illi- 
nois, on the line of any of the railroads diverging from that 
centre ; for another, Iowa City, the capital of Iowa, 242 miles 
west of Chicago ; and the other, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, which 
is 367 miles west of Chicago, via the Rock Island Railroad, 
now completed to Iowa City, and the only road in running 
order west of the Mississippi and north of Missouri. 

From Columbus, Ohio, to Cleveland, 125 miles, at 8 cents per 
hundred miles, by railroad, the cost of transportation would be 
10 cents per bushel; from thence to Buffalo, via Lake Erie, 4 
cents ; thence to New York, 12 cents; total, 26 cents. 

From the point 80 miles from Chicago, by railroad, it would 
be 7 cents to Chicago ; from thence to Buffalo, via the Lakes, 
7 cents ; thence to New York, via Erie Canal, 12 cents ; total, 
26 cents. 

From Iowa City to Chicago, 242 miles,' the cost would )je 19 



14 

cents per bushel; thence to Bufialo, 7 cents; thence to New 
York, 12 cents ; total, 38 cents. 

From Fort Des Moines to Chicago, 367 miles, the cost would 
be 29 cents ; thence to Buffalo, 7 cents ; thence to New York, 
12 cents ; total, 48 cents ; and in like ratio for any distance, 
greater or less. 

The value, therefore, of the crops, upon a farm of 160 acres, 
at Columbus, Ohio, and upon one of the same size, 80 miles 
from Chicago, are equal ; while there is a difference in favor of 
the latter over tlie one at Iowa City of |360 annually, and over 
the one at Fort Des Moines of $660 annually. Three hundred 
and sixty dollars will pay an interest of six per cent, upon a 
valuation of iS6000, and six hundred and sixty dollars is the 
interest, at the same rate, upon 111,000. It therefore follows, 
that a farm of 160 acres, appropriated to raising grain, within 
80 miles of Chicago, is worth just as much as one of the same 
size at Columbus, Ohio, and $6000 more than one at Iowa City, 
which is equal to $37 50 per acre ; and $11,000 more than one 
at Fort Des Moines, or $68 75 per acre ; on the assumption, 
also, that the railroads are there to-day, and the settler has 
every convenience for transporting his crops — an assumption, 
by the way, of which the farmers there would be very happy to 
feel a little more assured. 

This calculation is based upon the presumption that the lands 
in the different localities mentioned are of equal productive 
capacity, and fully sustains the argument, so far as it relates to 
that tract of country west of Lake Michigan, in the same paral- 
lel of latitude ; but in going southward in Illinois, the milder 
climate and increased fertility of the soil more than compensate, 
in shorter winters and heavier crops, for the difference in dis- 
tance from the Lakes. In Central and Southern Illinois is 
found the finest wheat zone in the Union, as well as the best 
soil and climate for fruits. It is only necessary for the intelli- 
gent farmer to pass through these sections of the State, — visit- 
ing the residents on their farms, examining the qualities and 
productions of the soil, looking at tlie rich magnificence of the 
prairies, and the arrangement of the alternation of timber and 
arable land, at the same time taking into consideration the re- 
sources which art, industry, and capital have brought to bear 



15 

towards the development of the country, placing it, as it were, 
in the great highway of our Union, — to become convinced that 
these sections must eventually become the garden of our coun- 
try, and the granary of the world. 

The opinion prevails, to some extent, that those lands remote 
from market may be made equally valuable by being appropri- 
ated to stock raising. But upon this subject very crude and 
erroneous ideas have been formed, in the minds of many, from 
the want of correct information, and judging from the examples 
of a few individuals who have made themselves distinguished, 
and amassed great fortunes, by dealing in and fattening, rather 
than by raising stock. The history of the operations of those gen- 
tlemen in this State, who, from their extensive transactions, have 
received the appellation of the " Cattle Kings," will show, that 
they realized their great profits through far other means than 
the breeding and raising of cattle. In the first place, they are 
men of great intellectual sagacity and energy of character, and 
would have made wide reputations in almost any other depart- 
ment of life. They located in the interior of our State at an 
early day, when 'that region was far remote from market, and 
thinly settled, and a wide range of richest pasturage was still 
open and unoccupied, and free for their vast herds to graze 
upon. The finest of cattle could be bought for very low prices, 
it not being profitable for those who raised but few to drive them 
away in small droves ; and it was the custom of these gentlemen 
to buy up all the choice young cattle, over a large extent of 
country, sometimes going beyond the limits of the State for their 
purchases, herding them upon the wide prairie ranges, and fat- 
tening them upon corn, which they could buy, at that time, for 
a dime or twelve cents the bushel, or even for a less price, by 
buying it standing in the shock, and having it fed on the ground ; 
then, when in good condition, removing them (in large droves) 
to Eastern or Southern markets, where large prices were realized 
from them. And it must be remembered that it was only after 
long years of unremitting labor, trial, and privation, with these, 
to them great advantages for their business, that they realized 
so great returns. 

But the opening of railroads through, and the establishing of 
markets in, these once almost inaccessible localities, has mate- 



16 

rially affected that branch of business. The prairies have be- 
come occupied by settlers, and turned to tillage ; and whereas, 
formerly, corn could be bought at just what price the buyer was 
pleased to give, scarcely ever exceeding a dime a bushel, it now 
seldom commands less than from forty to fifty cents. 

It is unnecessary to remind the intelligent farmer that the 
groiving- of stock is a work of time ; considerable capital is re- 
quired, with intimate knowledge of the business, where it is 
undertaken extensively ; and unless a large tract of land is pur- 
chased, and heavily stocked, in the commencement, very little 
that is satisfactory can be realized from it, as an exclusive busi- 
ness. For it requires long waiting, for the slow multiplication 
from a small number of animals, before there is much return. 
And at this day, the most that a farmer of moderate means 
could hope to do here, in from three to five years, would be to 
raise sufficient stock to consume one half of his surplus corn. 
And it is indispensable, to a small farmer, that wheat raising 
should be introduced, for a proper distribution of farm labor 
through the season. To carry out the calculation, however, 
from this point of view, it will be necessary to alter the figures 
to some extent, appropriating part of the surplus corn crop to 
fattening the stock. Therefore, assuming that eight bushels of 
corn will make 100 pounds of beef or pork, — which cannot 
vary much from the result of actual experiment, — the surplus 
of the corn crop upon the farm of 160 acres, supposing it to be 
cultivated as before stated, would be 2600 bushels. And, as we 
have said, the farmer could not raise stock enough within the 
first five years to consume more than one half of this, he would 
therefore have 1300 bushels to put into meat, and 1300 bushels 
of corn for market. The proceeds of the farm would therefore 
be as follows: 1300 bushels of corn; 16,250 pounds of meat, 
and 400 bushels of wheat. 

As, in the former calculation, the value of the produce of the 
farm in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio, and of the one eighty 
miles from Chicago, were equal, they would also be equal in this 
case. As the cost of transporting the products of the farm from 
the three localities west of Chicago would be the same after 
reaching that place, I shall only estimate the cost of carrying 
them there from those different places. 



17 

From the point 80 miles from Chicago : 

400 bushels of Wheat, at 7 cents, $28 00 

1300 bushels of Com, at 7 cents, 91 00 

16250 pounds Meat, at 12 cents per 100 pounds, . . . 19 50 



. $381 50 


Cliicago : 


. $116 00 


. 377 00 


89 37 



Total cost of products from farm SO miles Avest, to Cliicago, . $138 50 

From Iowa City, 242 miles west of Lake Micliigan, the cost would be : 

400 bushels of Wheat, at 19 cents, $76 00 

1300 bushels of Com, at 19 cents, 247 00 

16250 pounds Meat, at 36 cents per 100 poimds, . . . 58 50 

Total fi-om Iowa City to Cliicago, .... 

From the farm at Fort Des Moines, 367 miles west, 
400 bushels of Wheat, at 29 cents, 
1300 bushels of Corn, at 29 cents, .... 
16250 pomids Meat, at 55 cents per 100 pounds. 

Total from Fort Des Moines to Chicago, . . . . $582 37 

The difference in favor of a farm 80 miles west of Chicago 
over tlie one at Iowa City, is, therefore, ^243 00; and over 
that at Fort Des Moines, $443 87. 8243 00 is the interest, at 6 
per cent., on $4050 00 ; and $443 87 is the interest, at the 
same rate, on $7397 00. 

From these data, it is apparent that a farm 80 miles from 
Chicago is worth $4050, or $25 31 per acre, more than one at 
Iowa City ; and more than one at Fort Des Moines by $7397, 
or $46 23 per acre. And this difference is to accumulate against 
the settler each and every year, so long as he remains there. It 
must also be remembered, that a very considerable local de- 
mand, caused by emigration, and passing travel, has, in territo- 
ries so thinly settled as those west of the Mississippi, and wliere 
so little cultivation has been in progress, prevented the earlier 
settlers from depending at all on any market outside their doors. 
But as the country settles up, all produce not required for home 
consumption must necessarily seek the Lakes for its outlet ; and 
it is to that time the prudent farmer must look for the value of 
his investment, judging for himself whether it is the course of 
wisdom to entail this enormous annual drain upon the earnings 
of himself and his children, not for to-day, nor to-morrow, but 
for all time. 

3 



18 



ADVANTAGES FOR MECHANICS, LABORERS, &c., &c. 

There is work enough for all who can come ; towns and vil- 
lages are springing up with unexampled rapidity ; great dis- 
tricts of country are being settled, and internal improvements 
keeping pace with the general advance of the population and 
wealth. For many years to come, in all human probability, this 
rate of progression and increase must be sustained, and mechan- 
ical labor continue to be in constant demand. The prudent, 
industrious laborer can also depend upon continued employment 
at fair wages ; and if economical, may readily save sufficient 
from the proceeds of a year's work to make the advance interest 
payment required by the Company, to secure a piece of land for 
his farm ; thus starting upon his career to independence and 
probable wealth. 



MINERALS, COAL, LUMBER, «&c., &c. 

The Company owns valua- 
ble tracts of Iron and Lead 
Ores, also Coal beds of im- 
mense richness. The Coal 
and Iron lie in immediate 
proximity, and may be worked 
to great advantage. There 
are also forests of the most 
valuable White Oak, Black 
Walnut, Hickory, and Cypress 
timber, and excellent oppor- 
tunities for erecting steam 
mills are open at points where 
a great local demand may be 
secured, as well as railroad 
facilities for conveying the 

lumber to all parts of the State. 

When the amount of building now going on throughout the 

State is taken into consideration, a glance at such opportunities 

must be sufficieiit for the practical operator. 




19 

COST OF MOVING TO CHICAGO. 
ROUTES AND FARES FROM THE EASTERN CITIES TO CHICAGO. 



FROM NEW YORK. 

First Class. Emigrant. 

Via Hudson River, or Xew York and Harlem, Xew York Cen- 
tral, Great A^^estern, (Canada,) and Michigan Central Rail- 
roa'ds, (distance 9a0 miles.) affording the tmveller an oppor- 
tunity of \asiting Niagara Falls, and the Great Suspension 
Bridge over the Niagara River, without deviation from his 
route, . . .^ $22 00 $10 00 

Via Hudson River, or New York and Harlem, New York Cen- 
tral, Buffalo and Erie, Cleveland and Erie, Cleveland and 
Toledo, and ^Michigan Southern Railroads, (distance 963 
miles,) 22 00 10 00 

Via New York and Erie to Niagara Falls, Great Western, 
(Canada,) and Michigan Central Railroads, (distance 960 
miles,) ^ 22 00 10 00 

Via New York and Eric, Buffalo and Erie, Cleveland and Erie, 
Cleveland and Toledo, and Michigan Southern Raikoads, 
(distance 960 miles.) 22 00 10 00 

Via Camden and Ambo}-, Pennsylvania Central, and Pittsburg, 

Fort Wayne and Chicago Raih-oads, (distance 920 miles,) 22 00 10 00 

In summer, passenger.s can take steamers on the Hudson River, connecting with the 

Erie Raih-oad at Newburg, or the Xew York Central at Albany, and again at Buffalo, 

connecting with the splendid Lake steamers for Detroit or Toledo, where the)' take the 

Michigan Central or Michigan Southern Railroad for Chicago. Fares by these routes 

are a few dollars less than by all railroad. 

FROM BOSTON. 

Via Western, New York Central, Great Western, (Canada,) 

and Michigan Central Raih-oads, (distance 1010 miles,) . $24 00 $12 00 

FROM PHILADELPHIA. 

Via Pennsvlvania Central and Pittsburg, Fort Waj-ne and 

Chicago Railroads, (distance 818 miles,) . . ' . . 20 00 9 00 

Via Reading, Catawissa, Wiiliamsport and Elmira, Elmira and 
Canandaigua, Canandaigua and Niagara Falls, Great West- 
ern, (Canada,) and Michigan Central Raili'oads, (distance 
960 miles,) 20 00 

FROM BALTIMORE. 

Via Northern Central Railway to Harrisburg, thence by Penn- 
sylvania Central, and Pittsburg, Fort WajTie, and Cliicago 

Railroads, (distance 797 miles,) 19 50 9 00 

Via Baltimore and Ohio, and Pittsburg, Fort Waj'ne, and 

Chicago Railroads, (distance 820 miles,) . . . . 20 00 
In summer, the first class fares are generally from ^2 to $i less than the above rates. 
Children over four and under twelve years of age, half price ; nnder four years, free. 
Extra baggage over one hundred pounds, g2 per hundred. 

Freight on farming tools and furniture, about gl 50 per hundred pounds. Such arti- 
cles should be boxed in packages not too large, well hooped, and plainly marked with 
paint, and 7iot with cards. 

Upon the opening of navigation in the spring, a very pleasant route to Chicago is 
afforded by taking the steamers on Lake Ontario from Ogdensburg, Cape Vincent, or 
Oswego, for Toronto, thence via Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway, (94 miles,) to 
Collingwood, and thence by Lake steamers through Georgian Bay, across Lake Huron 
and down Lake Michigan, stopping at the Island of Mackinac and the principal towns 
on the Lake, in Wisconsin. First class fares by this route, 51'5 from Ogdensburg, and 
;gl3 from Cape Vincent, or Oswego, which include meals and state rooms on steamers, 
and the railroad fare from Toronto to Collingwood. Emigrant fares, ^8 to ^10. 

The " Railroad Guide " Map accompanying this pamphlet, shows all the routes and 
their principal connections. 



20 



PRICE CURRENT FOR CORF, WHEAT, AND OATS, 

In the Chicago Market, during the Year 1854. 







SPRING 


■WINTER 




MONTHS. 


CORN. 






OATS. ' 






WHEAT. 


WHEAT. 




January, .... 


33 to 40 


93 to 95 


106 to 115 


26 to 2U 


February, 






45 « 46 


117 " 120 


130 " 140 


30 " 31 


March, . . 






49 " 50 


104 " 106 


120 " 130 


27 " 281 


April,. . . 






43 " 44 


100 " 102 


112 " 120 


26^ « 27 


May, . . . 






43 " 45 


125 " 130 


140 " 150 


30 " 31 


June, . . . 






45 « 46 


128 " 130 


140 " 150 


30 " 3U 


July, . . . 






50 " 51 


95 " 100 


115 " 120 


31 " 33 


August, . . 






54 « 55 


95 " 110 


140 " 150 


29 " 30 


September, 






60 " 61 


100 " 120 


130 " 140 


32 « 33 


October, . 






54 " 55 


90 " 105 


130 " 140 


33 « 34 


November, 






50 " 52 


120 « 125 


130 " 145 


32 " 33 


December, 






46 " 47 


100 " 110 


112 " 125 


23 " 28 



PRICE CURRENT FOR CORN, WHEAT, AND OATS, 
In the Chicago Market, during the Year 1855. 







SPRING 


WINTER 




MONTHS. 


CORN. 


WHEAT. 


WHEAT 


OATS. 


January, .... 


48 to 50 


113 to 120 


128 to 135 


27 to 28 


February, 






48 " 50 


115 " 120 


125 " 135 


27 " 28 


March, . . 






50 " 55 


115 " 130 


125 " 140 


34 " 35 


April, . . . 






55 « 62 


135 " 150 


1.50 " 187J- 


40 " 48 


May, . . . 






72 « 78 


150 " 170 


160 " 175 


45 " 52 


June, . . . 






70 " 80 


150 " 162 


158 " 165 


40 « 48 


July, . . . 






70 " 75 


150 " 156 


155 " 165 


45 " 50 


August, . . 






63 « 68 


110 « 125 


1.33 " 140 


26 " 30 


September, 






63 " 68 


103 " 130 


120 " 155 


26 " 30 


October, . 






63 " 68 


128 " 160 


155 " 180 


25 " 28 


November, 






60 " 65 


145 " 152 


155 « 162 


26 " 31 


December, 






50 " 55 


128 « 136 


135 « 145 


26 " 29 



21 



PRICE CimRENT FOR CORN, WHEAT, AND OATS, 

In the Chicago Market, during the Year 1856. 



MONTHS. 


CORN. 


January, . . . 


40 to 45 


February, . . 


40 " 45 


March, .... 


38 " 42 


April, 


35 " 40 


May, 


35 " 38 


June, 


28 " 35 


J"iy, 


30 " 48 


August, .... 


40 " 46 


September, . . 


3G " 43 


October, . . . 


33 " 38 


November, . . 


30 « 38 


December, . . 


35 " 40 



SPRING 


WHEAT. 


120 to 130 


115 " 


125 


105 « 


115 


100 " 


110 


105 " 


115 


98 " 


110 


100 " 


110 


100 « 


110 


95 " 


105 


83 " 


103 


76 " 


90 


76 " 


85 



RED 

WINTER 

WHEAT. 



125 to 135 

120 " 130 



115 
110 
120 
105 
112 
115 
110 
100 
88 
88 



125 
120 
130 
115 
125 
125 
120 
115 
100 
95 



WHITE 

WINTER 

WHEAT. 



No White Win- 
ter Wheat was 
offered until 
July. 



125 to 130 



130 
120 
110 
95 
100 



145 

128 
120 
110 
105 



OATS. 



22 to 28 

24 « 26 



27 




28 


29 




30 


28 




29 


24 




28 


28 




32 


30 




35 


29 




31 


26 




28 


26 




36 


30 




36 



Prices for produce generally decline in the Chicago market on 
the closing of lake and canal navigation, the surplus then seek- 
ing the southern outlet, via Cairo, or bought subject to storage 
expenses. 



FHAT ARTICLES IT WILL BE BEST TO BRING OUT PROM 

THE EAST. 

Furniture. — Highly finished and costly furniture is mostly all 
wrought from the East, and sold at a considerable advance in 
the West ; but all the plain, substantial articles which are in 
gtjneral use in farm houses, can be procured here nearly, if not 
quite, as cheap as at the East. 

Agricultural Implements. — The smaller kinds are more ex- 
tensively made at the East ; but ploughs, reaping, mowing, and 
threshing machines are extensively made at the West. The 
difference in the cost of the former, however, is not sufficient to 
warrant the trouble, delay, and expense necessarily attendant on 
forwarding small parcels, and the settler will find it much more 
economical, in the end, to purchase all such articles here. 



22 



Stores, of all kinds, can be bought at reasonable prices ; and, 
in short, the emigrant to Illinois now needs to bring with him 
only such personal baggage as the ordinary demands of travel 
require. 

Houses can be contracted 
for in Chicago, and put up 
on the lands, any where 
within reasonable distance 
of the railroad, in less than 
thirty days from the date 
of order. They will cost 
from $250 upwards, accord- 
ing to the taste and re- 
quirements of the pur- 
chaser. 

Responsible parties are 
engaged in this business 
here, and the settler avoids 
the principal inconvenience 
heretofore supposed to be 




COTTAGE. 



indispensable in removing to the West. 

Cows AND Oxen. — Good milch Cows can be bought at from 
$20 to $30. Good, well-broke working Oxen can be had at from 

$50 to $150 per yoke. 

Horses vary from $100 to $150 each. At these prices, good, 
strong-limbed, healthy animals can be purchased, suitable for 
farms. They are extensively and cheaply raised on the prairies, 
for the eastern markets, and afford large profit. 



FENCING. 

An abundant supply of lumber, or timber for building or 
fencing, can be easily procured ; but the Osage Orange plant 
has been extensively introduced, and is rapidly supplanting all 
other kinds of fencing. Being at the same time more perma- 
nent and secure than any other, and highly ornamental, it must 
soon be universally employed. It can be raised by contract at 



23 



from fifty to seventy-five cents per rod, parties making a busi- 
ness of preparing the ground, setting out the plants, and culti- 
vating and trimming them until a perfect hedge is produced for 
the settler. For this, one third of the contract money is paid 
upon the setting out of the plants, and the balance when the 
fence is completed, without interest. Farmers preferring to 
raise plants from the seed, or procure them from nurseries, 
tending the hedge themselves, can procure their fence more 
economically than by contracting. 




-JSP- 



REAPING AND THRESHING WITH MACHINERY BY CONTRACT. 

Reaping Machines are almost altogether used at the West. 
They cost $100 to $150. They will cut fourteen acres of wheat 
per day. Contracts for reaping are made at 62 J- cents per acre. 
The contractor furnishes a driver, raker, and horses ; the farmer 
finds binders and shockers. 

Threshing Machines will thresh 300 bushels per day. It is 
generally contracted to be done at 4 to 5 cents per bushel, the 
contractor furnishing four horses and three hands, the farmer 
four more horses and five more hands, making in all eight hands, 
viz., one driver, one feeder, one measurer, one to pitch sheaves, 
one to cut bands, and three to take away straw. 



24 



FUEL. -WOOD, COAL. 

Great misconception exists at the East in regard to fuel, the 
want of which is not a matter of inconvenience to our farmers. 
Wood is delivered at the stations along the line of the road at 
from $3 to $4 per cord. In the central and southern portions 
of the State, it is afforded in some places as low as 1:2 per cord. 
Bituminous coal of the best quality is found at various points 
along the road, and sells at from $1 50 to $4 per ton. Mines 
are now being worked, at convenient distances, all over the State, 
and the completion of the various East and "West Eailroads 
guarantees a constant supply at reasonable rates. Old residents 
in the State consider this coal more economical as fuel, even 
when they have to haul it a considerable distance, than to cut 
wood on their own farms. 



TOWN LOTS. 

At about every ten miles along the road, the Company have 
erected large and commodious passenger and freight houses. 

Around most of 
these, dwellings 
and stores have 
been erected since 
the completion of 
the railroad. Mer- 
chants and me- 
chanics are gather- 
ing at these sta- 
tions, to accommo- 
date the wants of 
the rapidly growing farming population surrounding them. At 
most of the stations, the Company own the town sites. Lots are 
offered, on extremely liberal terms, to any who wish to purchase, 
and build on them. 

Great opportunities are offered at these various stations for 
embarking in the mercantile business, dealing in lumber or 




25 

.rain, pork and beef packing, or in a general produce business 
1 country so fruitful and productive, with a popula ion rapidly 
fillino- it up, must make each and all of these profitable. 




ILLINOIS 

Is now in the start of its great advance towards becoming the 
first producing State in the Union. Having Lake Miclngan on 
one side, furnishing a constant outlet for its produce, the Missis- 
sippi to the west, with its tril^utaries, the Illinois and Rock 
Rivers, both na^^gable streams, running far into its interior, the 
Wabash on its eastern borders, and Oliio on the south the nat- 
ural facilities would seem unequalled in the world. But added 
to these is a system of internal improvements unsurpassed by 
any other of the States. The Illinois and Michigan Canal inter- 
sects it from east to west, and numerous railroads cross and re- 
cross in every direction. Its hamlets are becoming to^viis its 
towns cities, and its vast prairies occupied and cultivated by a 
most substantial, intelligent, and respectable farming population 
Everv thing seems to be flourishing, and wealth and general 
prosperity rewarding every adventure. For young men, wearied 
with struggling against the competitions and difiiculties of ad- 



26 

vancement in the older States, this seems a field peculiarly suited 
to their aims and ambitions ; requiring but a moderate invest- 
ment of capital, large returns await the prudent and industrious 
operator. 

The reader can see, from the perusal of the letters accom- 
panying this pamphlet, what has been accomplished by others, 
starting under far more adverse circumstances than now exist ; 
and when, upon such a soil as this has been proved to be, at- 
tended with all the facilities, natural and artificial, which have 
been brought to bear upon it, the more scientific and economical 
system of agriculture pursued in older countries is directed, 
the reality must surpass the most sanguine expectations at pres- 
ent entertained. 



FUTITHER INTORMATIO]^. 



Sectional Maps of the Lands of the Company, showing the 
precise position of every piece of land in various parts of the 
State, owned by the Company, can be had at the Chicago Land 
Office, by remitting fifty cents in postage stamps. Plats of their 
towns, at the various stations throughout the State, can also be 
seen at that office. 

For any further information, apply personally or by letter, in 

English, French, or German, to 

JOHN WILSON, 

Or to Land Commissioner, 

JOSEPH B. AUSTIN, 

Registear, 

Illinois Central R. R. Co., Chicago. 

Land Department, Illinois Central E. R. Co., ) 
Chicago, January 1, 1857. ) 

Office, in Illinois Central R. R. Depot Buildings. 



LETTERS IN REGAED TO SOIL, ETC. 



LETTER FROJ^I G. W. GILSON, ESQ. 

Centralia, Marion Co., Illinois,) 
December 20, 1855. ) 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner. 
Dear Sir : You have requested my views in regard to the advantages 
and prospects of Illinois ; and it affords me great pleasure to be able to 
answer you. I have resided in the State for nineteen years, and may 
therefore, be considered as possessing some knowledge of the subject I 
am writin<r about. I have seen many changes, and the results of many 
operations for advancing our position. I have seen the dreary times 
when our farmers had to live in isolated positions, haul then- crops long 
distances to a market, and then sell at low rates, taking goods m exchange 
as part payment; and I see them now with railroads passmg all around 
them, and markets established within the convenient reach ot every ono 
of them. Large as has been the accession to our population during ^ 
few years past, in my opinion the coming season will show an immensely 
m-eater increase still. The maps and advertisements of your Company 
have found their way into the hands of eager men, who, from the sterile 
hills of the Atlantic seaboard, view with amazement the rapid progress 
of this mighty valley of the AYest. The tide of prosperous commerce, 
which is sending its rich treasures to the East, from our ocean of agri- 
cultural wealth, in its return brings back the necessary means of in- 
crease ; and thus each year is destined to add to the almost boundless 
development of the resources of our State. 

Illinois is by far the most important agricultural State in the Union, 
and affords the greatest inducements to emigrants. It has more acres 
of good arable, and fewer acres of waste land than any other State. It 
has, along its borders, and through its area, more miles of navigable 
streams ; one of the largest and most important canals in the world, con- 
necting the Northern lakes with the Mississippi River ; and railroads in 
every direction, forming, as it were, a network of iron over its rich and 



28 

fertile prairies. Mines of iron, coal, lead, and other minerals, underlie 
these beautiful savannas ; and a salubrious, even climate makes redo- 
lent with health the happy families who here found their happy homes. 

Iowa, though much talked of at the East, can hold no comparison 
with our " Prau'ie State." Settlers going over there find, to their cost, 
that the land speculator has been before them, selecting the desirable 
locations, and holding them at cash prices equal to, and often far beyond, 
the credit rates in Illinois. Along each stream, all possible future rail- 
road routes, and near every market station, he has been there first, and 
the settler must press further, further back, and doom himself to hard, 
unprofitiible labor, in an isolated position for years to come. Land 
speculators will be the great curse of Iowa for a Avhole generation to 
come. They are locking up the resources of the State, preventing its 
improvement, and constituting themselves a perfect pest to the actual 
settler. Large tracts of land have been entered, and are now held by 
foreign capitalists, who intend to keep them out of the market until the 
improvements of others have enabled them to realize immense profits. 
Suppose a former from the East to make a selection in the midst of one 
of these tracts ; he can have no knowledge of how the land around him 
may be held, and would have to waste his whole lifetime, adding to the 
wealth of another, from whom he derives no reciprocal advantage, but, on 
the contrary, the greatest injury. Again, the prices are actually higher 
over there than here. I have known of lands, thirty miles from a mar- 
ket, Avith no timber or stream within ten miles, to be held at from $10 
to $12 per acre — one half cash, and the balance in six months or a year, 
with ten per cent, interest. The settler there would have to haul his 
lumber and building materials thirty miles, giving, to start with, $22 and 
upwards for even ordinary lumber, bring his produce thirty miles again 
to market, and then receive 25 to 33 per cent, less for his crops, than at 
the same time the fanner in Central or Southern Illinois would be readi- 
ly commanding. Allowing, again, that Iowa Avas well supplied with 
railroads now, (though such a state of things cannot be expected in less 
than ten years' time,) and allowing that the settler could at once secure 
a good location at fair prices, still his neighbor in Illinois would have the 
advantage over him ; for Chicago is now, and must ever be, the centre 
and gathering point for all the produce West, North-west, and South- 
west of it, and will consequently fix the standard price for this whole 
region of country ; and all the producer can hope to get for his crops 
will be Chicago prices, less the cost of transportation ; leaving the balance 
always against the farmer, as he recedes from the centre of trade. 

Agam, in Iowa he will have to pay far higher for all agricultural tools 
and machinery ; all materials for building, as well as the httle luxuries 



29 

of life ; find it difficult, if not impossible, to educate his children ; and 
in short, for many years suffer all the social, agricultural, and general 
privations and wants of an entirely new State. 

Now turn to Illinois. Here we have such a network of raih'oads — not 
on paper, but in actual operation — that it is almost impossible for a set- 
tler to get many miles aw^ay from one. At every station his produce 
will command hard cash, at nearly Chicago rates. He is in the midst 
of the most flourishing State in the Union ; in a perfectly heahhy cli- 
mate, with a rich soil, plenty of fine timber and good water, abounding 
in coal and minerals ; and where he can obtain the best of land on long 
credits, with low rates of interest and easy payments. How much bet- 
ter, then, to settle here ! For the next ten years he can make far more 
per annum than by going West of the Mississippi ; and even should he 
pay a few dollars more per acre, on a long credit, the difference in re- 
ceipts on a single crop would more than repay it. 

By the terms upon which your Company disposes of its lands, the 
speculator is shut out. Let the settler take this into consideration ; let 
him look at the advantages of being surrounded by actual farmers only, 
who will aid immediately in making roads, building churches and schools, 
and all other local improvements ; let him study your terms for lands ; 
here he can buy on your six years' credit, only pay three per cent, 
per annum for the use of his money, and at once invest his means in 
cultivating the purchase. So he can afford to buy double the amount in 
IlUnois that he can in Iowa ; and before his payments are completed, 
realize at least two hundred per cent, on the money thus used in cul- 
tivation. 

By far the most valuable and desirable portion of our State has as yet 
received but little attention ; and many of our best farming lands are still 
held at very low figures. The reason for this is, that the tide of emigra- 
tion, years ago, before railroads were even thought of out here, poui'ed in 
from the Lakes and Northern Indiana, seeking the Illinois and Rock 
Rivers to furnish an outlet for their crops. Year after year settlers 
came along, locating in the neighborhood of these pioneers, and thus 
forming quite large settlements, which have ever since attracted more or 
less of the passing emigrants. Some of these centres were also formed 
in Southern Illinois, but not having the large navigable streams so near 
at hand, did not progress so rapidly as the others. Now, however, the 
streams cease to be essential, the railroad having furnished the necessary 
outlet ; and these fairest sections of the whole State lie in rich luxuri- 
ance, inviting the energy of the farmer, only to return to him their 
choicest rewards. Southern Illinois has more timber, and a soil better 
adapted to the production of wheat, corn, fruits, or grasses, than the 



30 

northern parts of the State. The winters are far shorter and less 
severe ; and while by railroad the settler finds easy access to Chicago 
and the East, he is also in close proximity to the uninterrupted naviga- 
tion of the South. Our prairies are not so large as those in the North, 
are more gently undulating, well watered by small streams, and have 
the timber scattered over them to better advantage. Our climate is 
mild, regular, and healthy. We are exempt from sudden and severe 
changes, and able to pursue farming operations to far greater advantage 
and vastly greater profit. Our stock requires but little housing or feed- 
ing up, and can therefore be raised more economically, while we have 
constantly the choice of the four great markets, Chicago, St. Louis, Cin- 
cinnati, and New Orleans, for the disposal of our produce. If Eastern 
farmers Avould give this section a fair and full examination, I am per- 
suaded they would settle here at once; and I know the results of their 
operations could not fail to be highly satisfactory. 

Such, sir, are the results of my observation and experience in Illinois 
and the West. They are at your disj)osal if you think fit to use them. 
While I remain, 

Yours, very truly, 

GEORGE W. GILSON. 



LETTER FROM B. G. ROOTS, ESQ. 

Tamakoa, Perry Co., Illixois, 
December 27, 1855. 
Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner. 
Dear Sir: In March, 1837, 1 left Massachusetts for Illinois. During 
the first eighteen months, my profession of civil engineer required me 
to be constantly in or near the swamp and overjloiced lands, in the ex- 
treme south-easterly portions of this State. I did not, however, find even 
that section as sickly as I had expected, though an occasional shake ad- 
monished me that while engaged in that occupation, my family had better 
remain in comfortable quarters at home. Seeing that this State offered 
superior advantages to men with only a small capital, I was anxious to 
locate in it ; biit as fully determined to run no risk as to the health of my 
family. After extensive examinations, I selected the tract upon which I 
now reside, and removed my family from the East to it. I have since 
become well acquainted with all counties south and east of the Illinois 
River, and have been in most of the counties in the south half of Wis- 
consin, but have seen none healthier than this. I went through the 



31 

country above spoken of before we had railroads. I travelled with my 
own conveyance, and stopped at the farm houses at night ; every house 
was a traveller's home — for thei'c were few taverns. From all that I 
have seen, I fully believe that the prairies in the south part of this 
State are quite as healthy as any other section. We find abundance of 
good water by digging — the average depth of wells in this vicinity 
being from 12 to 25 feet. The prairie furnishes excellent pasturage ; 
but it dries up earlier in the fall (unless we have more rain than usual) 
than tame pastures. This year, cattle did well ujion the prairies until 
late in December ; but it is generally expedient to feed some from the 
middle of November until the latter part of March. A pasture of blue 
grass will sustain, in good condition, mules, colts, sheep, dry cows and 
steers, ten months in the year. As we had no means of exporting 
wheat until the Illinois Central Railroad opened an outlet, it was not 
sown extensively until the fall of 1854; that sowing averaged from 20 
to 25 bushels per acre, of most excellent wheat, most of which was 
manufactured into flour, and sold in the city of New York, before the 
crop in the northern parts of the State was even cut. 

Fencing is the hardest work which a new settler here has to perform. 
Good white oak rails, laid up in fence, where it is required, are worth 
from $2 to $3 per hundred. To lessen the cost of fencing, it is very 
desirable for several friends to settle together, so that the land at first 
may be enclosed in one common field. 4704 rails will fence 20 acres ; 
6720 Avill fence 40 acres; 13,440 rails wiU fence IGO acres; 28,880 rails 
will fence one section, or 640 acres. 

The spring following that when the prairie sod is broken up, a Ma- 
dura hedge should be set out around the portion chosen by each indi- 
vidual. Many of my neighbors make their own hedges ; but as a man 
can always dispose of his labor to advantage here, I believe it cheaper to 
buy it than to make it. Hedging has become a trade, to which a class 
of men devote themselves. They furnish tlie plants, set them in the 
ground, and cultivate them for four years, at 15 cents per rod a year ; 
making the whole cost of hedge 60 cents per rod. At the expiration of 
four years, when the last payment upon the hedge is due, it is a perfect 
banner against bulls, pigs, and all other animals. The rails of which the 
outside fence was made are then sold to somebody else, or used to make 
interior fences. They will last for twenty years, and I know not how 
much longer. Sixteen years ago, I purchased an old improvement. 
Most of the rails with which it was enclosed are still good. 

New prairie is broken to advantage from the 15th of April to the 10th 
of July ; but I prefer to have it broken from the lOth of May to the 10th 
of June. That which is broken previous to the 10th of June, I plant in 



82 

corn, wliich yields from 20 to 45 bushels per acre. As it receives no 
cultivation after it is planted, it is more affected by good or bad seasons 
than crops which are cultivated. That which is broken up after the 10th 
of June is sown with wheat in September, and always yields well. 
Corn which is planted before the 20th of May is often cut up, and wheat 
sown on the same ground in September or October ; but wheat which is 
sown so late is sure not to produce as well as that sown early. Oats do 
not do very well upon prairie until the ground has been cultivated two 
or three years ; but the year following that on which it is first broken up, 
it is in excellent condition to produce wheat, barley, corn, flax seed, cas- 
tor beans, and every kind of garden vegetable which is raised in New 
England, and excellent sweet potatoes in abundance. 

With a good plough, and one pair of good horses, one man can break 
up one and a half acres per day of the new prairie. A good yoke of 
cattle will break up nearly the same quantity of ground. Two good 
yoke of cattle will break two acres per day. Pi-evious to 1853, the cus- 
tomary price for breaking prairie was from $1 50 to $2 per acre ; but 
in 1853, the conmion price was $2 50 per acre; and, as the demand for 
labor always exceeds the supply, I think it will not be less than this sum 
for several years to come. 

Common farm hands receive from $110 to $130 per annum, and their 
board. I employ a good practical working farmer, who takes charge of 
every thing pertaining to the form. I furnish him house, garden, and 
fruit trees, free of rent, and pay him $250 per aimum. He, with the 
aid of a boy twelve years of age, five breeding mares, and $10 worth of 
occasional aid, attends to forty acres in corn, ten in wheat, ten in oats, 
six in flax, (cultivated only for the seed,) ten in meadow of old ground, 
and breaks up and plants in sod corn twenty acres of new prairie. We 
commence planting corn from the 1st to the 20tli of April, and finish 
from the 1st to the 10th of June. I once raised an excellent crop 
planted on the 23d of June. I cut up my corn stalks near the ground, 
before the frost comes, and shock it up. We pull the ears from that 
which is to be fed to dry cows and steers, who do well on the fodder and 
such nubbins as are left upon it. If we wish to fatten cattle in the win- 
ter, we give them the fodder with the ears all remaining on it. 

At the stations on the railroad, we can sell every thing we can spare 
at nearly Chicago or New Orleans prices, less the cost of transportation. 
I believe the charge from here to Chicago is 24 cents per bushel. 

We raise what is here called sugar corn, to eat green. We have it fit 
for cooking from the 20th of June till October. We raise two crops of 
tliis, and one crop of turnips on the same ground, in one season. We 
receive, in excellent condition, fresh fish from the Lake, via Chicago, 



38 

and tropical fruits, via New Orleans and Cairo. The facility with which 
we dispose of whatever we have to sell, and procure whatever we wish 
to purchase, the mildness of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, 
render this a most desirable residence. If farmers will once visit us, 
they will abandon all idea of settling in Iowa. After a farm is once 
fenced, there is very little use for timber land. Coal here is rapidly 
taking the place of wood, as fueL I buy coal at such a rate, that it is 
cheaper to hum it than to prepare loood for stoves and f replaces. Coal 
is so abundant, that cdl Southern Illinois will always be supplied at a 
low rate. 

Numerous Saw Mills arc l)eing erected in the timber along the rail- 
road, south of Big Muddy River. Some are completed, and Lumber 
Yards are established at almost every station, Avhere the pine of the 
North meets the poplar, cypress, black walnut, sycamore, maple, and oak, 
from the South. There are saw mills in the smaller portions of timber 
which occur at short intervals in this part of the State, but they are 
fully occupied in supplying the demand in their immediate vicinity. 

I planted an orchard of apple and peach trees in 1843. The peach 
trees commenced bearing in 1845, and the apple in 1847 ; and, although 
the yield is not uniform in amount, we have enough excellent fruit every 
year. My cherries, currants, gooseberries, and grapes, have received 
very little attention, but they yield abundantly. Clover is a difficult 
crop to start well, but when once well set, it thrives. Timothy, red top, 
orchard grass, and blue grass, set easily after the praii'ie has been culti- 
vated, and yield well. The greatest difficulty here is the want of labor. 
It is so easy to become the owner of land, that almost every man who is 
worth hiring becomes the owner of a fai'm within a few years, and wants 
to hire laborers himself. 

Very respectfully, B. G. ROOTS. 



LETTER FROM JOHN WILLIAIMS, ESQ. 

New Albany, Coles County, Illinois, 
December 23, 1855. 
Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner. 

Sir : I will now comply with your request for my experience as a 

farmer in this State ; at the same time giving you permission to use this 

letter as you may judge will tend most to the interest of the State, by 

inducing industrious men living in the Eastern States, and j'ossessing 



34 

but moderate means, to come on to these ricli prairies, where, with but a 
small investment, they can build up, by their energy and prudence, com- 
Ibrtable homes and handsome farms. And not only will these do well, 
but also for the man of wealth, ambitious of an extended field for opera- 
tion, no place can be more desirable. To give one instance : Let a man 
purchase a good stock location, and invest his money the coming spring 
in young cattle, at a cost of from $2 50 to $3 00 per hundred, gross 
weight ; the grass will make an increase of 50 per cent, on the invest- 
ment by fall, with the sole cost of a boy to see after them, that they keep 
together by day, and are pounded at night. I bought, last fall, one hun- 
di'ed and twelve head of cattle, at a cost of $2 30 per hundred, or about 
$25 50 per head, and have since sold them for beef, to be delivered 
from the 25th to 28th of April, at 84 25 per hundred, gross — Avith the 
hogs that follow them at the same rate ; enabling me, as you can readily 
see, to cash my grain at a first rate price. At my farm, the cattle Avill 
bring me from $48 to $50 per head, besides the increase on the hogs. 

I have lived in Illmois about thirty years, and have seen some ups 
and downs in that time. I moved from Kentucky, and setfled first in 
Vermilion County ; after living there thirteen years, I moved into 
Champaign County ; lived there three years, and then went over into 
Piatt County, Missouri ; not having seen the land there before moving- 
out, and finding it did not equal my expectations, I returned to Illinois, 
and settled in Coles County, where I have remained ever since ; you 
can therefore see that I have been over some of the West in search of 
the best place to make the almighty dollar, and as I think I have found 
it, I will here say, that after a man has lived in the State of Illinois, 
and farmed its rich soil for a few years, he will find it hard work to hunt 
up a better country. TTlien I first settled in Vermilion County, the 
representation of our district comprised all the State lying up along the 
Lake, including Chicago, which then consisted only of the old block fort 
on the Lake shore. At that time, we, in the centre of the State, had no 
market for any of our produce ; Ave had no railroads, and were forced to 
kill our hogs at home, team them to Terre Haute, sixty miles, and then 
get $1 50 to $2 per hundred weight, taking half the amount in store 
goods at a very high figure. So farmers had to work along in those 
days. I have known corn to sell for 5 to 8 cents per bushel ; and yet 
even then they did well, from the fact that they could raise every thing 
they wanted to eat, and in abundance, too. 

As I said, I have seen some ups and downs in Illinois. In 1836, 
speculations ran high in land and town sites ; then the Legislature passed 
an act authorizing the construction of some thirteen hundred miles of 
railroad, of Avhieh none was built, excepting a short line from Spring- 



e5 

field to the Illinois River, while the expectation of a high rate of taxa- 
tion turned tlu; course of emigration into Iowa ; and so it ran on for a 
few years, until people found out that in passing into Iowa they left be- 
hind them the best and richest State, and that all their ideas about high 
taxation were totally wrong. Tiien came the act of Congress, authoriz- 
ing the Legislature of the State to negotiate with a company for the 
building of a long line of railroad north and south through the State ; 
and the completion of this has ushered in the new era of prosperity for 
our State. I believe we have now about twenty-five hundred miles of 
finislied railroad, and some six or seven hundred miles in process of 
building, which gives us a market right at our own doors for all we can 
raise. Times have changed, indeed, sir, since I commenced in the State. 
Instead of 5 or 8 cents a bushel for our corn, Ave now get 25 to 40. 
Instead of 25 to 38 cents for wheat, we now have $1 25 to SI 60 per 
bushel ; and in place of spending some four days getting to Chicago, we 
now go up on a morning, do our trading, and get back the next day. 

I can raise on my farm, and have done it, GO to 100 bushels of corn 
to the acre, 30 to 40 bushels of wheat per acre, and every kind of vege- 
table in the greatest abundance. I harvested off my farm, this season, 
15,000 bushels of corn ; two men raised for me, with but little more 
than their own labor, about 7000 bushels of corn and oats ; this corn is 
now Avorth, in the crib, over 25 cents per bushel. My neighbors raised 
from 25 to 38 bushels of wheat per acre, and sold it on the spot at from 
$1 25 to SI 30 per bushel. Early in the season, Mr. Cuthbertson, a 
neighbor of mine, sold the crop of wheat off of fifty acres of land, as it 
stood, for $1500 cash. I will just say, sir, that in Coles, Champaign, 
Vermilion, Moultrie, and the adjoining Counties, are as good lands as 
the sun shines upon ; the soil is rich and deep; timber first rate; water 
fine and sweet ; health as good as any where in the States ; and if a man 
can't come here and clear the whole cost of his land, improvements and 
all expenses, from two or three crops, he ought to be liooted out of the 
State a> not fit to be called a farmer. I have never been sick one Avhole 
day in thirty years, and there has been but one death in this neighbor- 
hood tliis season. A man can now come into this State, and buy lands 
even as high as $15 per acre, and make them pay for themselves far 
more easily than I could when I bought lands at $2 to $3 per acre. My 
advice to farmers in the East is to leave their rocks and hills, where 
they are just grubbing out a living, and come on to these splendid prai- 
ries, as they lie all ready for the plough, and where every thing which 
the farmer plants yields such an abundant return. Last spring, I thought 
I Avould go over into Iowa and see what the farmers were doing there ; 
so I went, and I'll tell you what I found. The land was held at higher 



36 

prices for cash than you could buy on credit in this State ; all the best 
of it was in the hands of speculators ; it was not a good winter wheat 
country ; fruit did not grow so as to be depended upon ; there was no 
interior market for produce, except the demand caused by emigration ; 
lumber, such as pine boards, cost about S^75 per thousand feet, at the 
Fort, and salt $10 per barrel. There is more timber in my county 
(Coles) than I saw in any four in Iowa, and I came back perfectly sat- 
isfied that there is no State in the whole West equal to Illinois, after all 
that can be said in favor of the others. 

These, gentlemen, are my scattering thoughts on things as they have 
passed before my own eyes during thirty years' residence in this State, 
or travelling over the neighboring ones. You can use them as you see 
fit, while I subscribe myself, 

Yours, very truly, 

JOHN WILLIAMS. 



LETTER FROM REV. JOHN S. BARGER, 

giving his expekiexce in breaking up and cultivating a 
faiim in the vicinity of the railroad. 

Clinton, Df, Witt Co., Illinois, } 
Januanj 22, 1855. \ 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner. 

Dear Sir : Yours of the 8th ult. was received a few days since, and 
I now answer it, as soon as has been consistent with other obligations. 

The statistical information, in the form of facts, substantiated by farm- 
ers throughout the State, Avhich you propose embodying in your contem- 
plated circular, designed to show " the result of well-directed efforts in 
Illinois farming," and to which I have the honor of being requested to 
contribute, I regret to say, I am not so well prepared to give in detail, as 
many others, from whom doubtless you will obtain it. Nevertheless, I 
may at least say, that in your very complimentary remark, you judge 
correctly in part, that " among those who have bi'oken up the wild prai- 
rie, and by judicious management realized large profits," I have been 
"very successful." Yet, Avhen the fact is known, as it should be in 
order to form a correct judgment in my case, that I have been an itiner- 
ant minister in the M. E. Church, without any cessation, since 1823, 
(the 20th year of my age,) it will be reasonably concluded that I would 
have been yet more successful had my efforts and management been 
directed by the superior skill of a well -trained and practical farmer. 



37 

But as you have particularly requested the facts in my own case, as 
heretofore explained to you, I here offer these facts, taken from my 
memoranda, for whatever use you may think proper to make of them, 
and will leave the other details you desire to other hands, better pre- 
pared to give them. 

From 1848 to I80O, I purchased in De Witt County, and nearly ad- 
joining Clinton, (the County seat,) 400 acres of fine farming land, 
through which the Illinois Central Railway passes, and in the vicinity 
three timbered lots, containing 140 acres, making 540, at a cost of 
$1518 19. In the spring of 1853 I determined to make my farm, and 
accordingly contracted for the breaking of 300 acres at $G00 ; also, for 
making 400 rods offence, at $4 75 per 100 rails in the fence, $494 19 ; 
making together $1094 19. Having obtained the privilege of joining 
to 720 rods of fence on adjoining farms, I thus enclosed 360 acres, and 
had 280 prepared for seeding. 

The breaking was done from the 27th of May to the 9th of July. 
The greater portion of this ploughed land might, therefore, have been 
planted in corn, and harvested in time for seeding with wheat ; and thus 
I miglit have added considerably to the avails of the first year, had I not 
been 80 miles distant, engaged in the labors of the Jacksonville district. 

I paid for seeding 300 acres, $230 00 

" " 325 bushels seed wheat, . . . 243 lo 

Add the cost of making the farm, 1,094 19 $1,567 94 

I paid for harvesting, threshing, sacking, and delivering at 

the Clinton Depot, distant liom the fami from i {o I5 

miles, 1,650 00 

Making the entire expenditure, , . 3,217 94 

Sokl at the Clinton Depot, 4378|-S- bushels wheat, for . 4,378 S2 

I kept for bread, 50 00 

Making the gross income of the first year of. .... 4,428 82 
From wliieh take the enthe cxpenditm'e, ..... 3,217 94 



And you have the net proceeds of the first year, . . . . $1,210 88 
To which add the cost of maldng the farm, 1,094 19 



Malting entire avails of the first year, $2,305 07 



Furthermore, to do justice to the productiveness of the soil, and to 
show wdiat the well-directed efforts and judicious management of a well- 
trained and practical Illinois farmer would have done, it should be stated 
that, at least in mj^judgment, some 1500 bushels of wheat Avere wasted 
by untimely and careless harvesting and threshing, equal to $1500 net 
proceeds. Then add $55 33, excess of payments for plougliing and 



38 

seeding only 280 acres, which a skilful farmer would have known before 
making his contracts, and you have a loss, which ought to have been a 
gain, of $1555 33. This amount saved would have showed the avails 
of the first year's operation, on 280 acres of the farm, to have been 
$3860 40. 

Now, sir, if one under such circumstances, with but little more than 
a theoretical knowledge of farming, has succeeded even thus well, hav- 
ing hired all the labor, and mostly at very high prices, how much larger 
profits might have been realized by a skilful and practical farmer, de- 
voting his whole time and attention to his appro[)riate occupation ! How 
much more successful thousands of farmers and farmers' sons on ouj" 
Eastern seaboard and in our Eastern States might be, were they, or 
could they, be induced to move on, and apply their skill, industry, 
and economy in the cultivation of the rich and productive prairies of 
Illinois ! 

Let them come by thousands and tens of thousands, — there is room 
enough, — and examine the country. They will find rich lands, and good 
water, and general health almost every where. This is not a wilderness. 
They will find schools and churches springing up in almost every settle- 
ment made, and now being made, throughout the State. Illinois is not 
a moral desolation. It literally and spiritually " blossoms as the rose." 
Let them come to Chicago, and go to Galena, and visit Cairo. But let 
them not remain at either place, unless they choose. The Illinois Cen- 
tral Hailroad and its branches traverse the finest portion of the globe. 
Let them glide through our State, on these and other roads, now check- 
ering almost the entire of this " Garden of the Lord," and stoj) where 
they will, to " examine the land, of what sort it is," and they will no 
longer consent to dig among the rocks, and plough the sterile lands of 
their forefothers. But they will long bless the day when tliey found for 
themselves and their children such comfortable homes as they still may 
obtain, in this rich and beautiful Prairie State, destined soon to compare 
with, nay, to surpass, in all the most desirable respects, the most prosper- 
ous State in the LTnion. 

I will now give you a concise history of the operations of Mr. Funk. 
Both before and since his marriage, he had made rails for his neighbors 
at twenty -five cents per 100. But when the lands where he lived came 
into market, 25 years ago, he had saved of his five years' earnings 
$1400, and says, if he had invested it all in lands he would now have 
been rich. With $200 he bought his first quarter section, and loaned 
to his neighbors $800, to buy their homes ; and with the remaining $400 
he purchased a lot of cattle. With this beginning, Mr. Funk now owns 
7000 acres of land, has near 2700 in cultivation, and his last years' 



sale of cattle and hogs, at the Chicago market, amounted to a little ovet 
$44,000. 

Mr. Isaac Fl'NK, of Funk's Grove, nine miles distant from his 
brother Jesse, and ten miles north-west from Bloomington, on the Missis- 
sippi and Chicago Railroad, began the world in Illinois at the same time, 
having a little the advantage of Jesse, so far as having a little borrowed 
capital. He now owns about 27,000 acres of land, has about 4000 acres 
in cultivation, and his last sales of cattle at Chicago amounted to 
$65,000. 

These families have enjoyed almost uninterrupted health. Mr. Isaac 
Funk has had 10 children, and Mr. Jesse Funk 8. In the family of 
I>aac, one died of fever ; and in that of Jesse, one by an accidental fall 
from a Avagon. 

Yours, truly, 

JOHN S. BARGER. 



LETTER FROM JAMES PHILLIPS, ESQ. 

Nashville, "Washington Co., Illinois, ? 
December 26, 1855 ^ 

J. B. Austin, Esq., 

Land Departvicnt, I. C R. R. 

Dear Sir: For the information of those who design coming West, I 
forward you the following thoughts about our country — a portion of this 
great valley which has been, to a great extent, hitherto overlooked by 
emigrants. Until quite recently we were, to a great degree, cut off from 
a market. Produce could not be transported to our great thoroughfares, 
the freight, in many instances, costing more than the article would bring 
when taken to the nearest shipping point. Now, however, the case is quite 
different. A market has been created by railroads, at our own homes, 
for every article the tiller of the soil produces. Formerly our farmers 
raised their products, then fed the same to their horses, cattle, sheep, 
hogs, (tc, looking forward from one to four years for a time when this 
stock could be advantageously cashed. Now, his corn, wheat, oats, 
beans, hay, &c., command fair rates at the nearest depot so soon as de- 
livered ; tluis giving him a quick return, instead of the long one he pre- 
viously received. 

Our climate is temperate. We neither have the protracted cold of 
the lakes of the North, nor the sultry heat of the South. This country 
will compare favorably with any other portion of the Mississippi valley 



40 

for health. We ai'e exempt from the consumption of the Eastern 
States, from the low fevers of the Southern States, and comparatively 
free from those miasmatic diseases of the AVestern States in their early 
settlement ; and in proportion as our country is tilled, as the primeval 
surface gives place to cultivation, will these latter disappear also. Ex- 
cellent water is obtained at an average depth, almost any where, of 
twenty feet. Our soil is of an excellent quality, surface pleasantly un- 
dulating, enough so to avoid swamps on the one hand, and not too 
broken on the other. Timber is both good and plentiful. Some of our 
prairies are a little larger than we could desire, but in them hedges 
thrive for fencing, so well, indeed, that many of our firmers are hedging 
who have an abundance of timber near by their farms. Our population 
is rapidly increasing by the influx of an intelligent and well-to-do class 
of people. 

We have the land here that can now produce 100 bushels corn to an 

acre, or at least the stalks are now standing from which Mr. G , 

our sheriff, gathered that amount. There is a farmer near by me, wht 
ploughed up in the summer a piece of land of a medium quality ; in the 
fall he put it down in wheat, and the following harvest (the late summer) 
he took off between thirty and forty bushels to the acre, and this with- 
out any particular or si)ecial care about it. Oats, rye, barley, buck- 
wheat, beans, peas, potatoes, and most garden vegetables that grow in 
temperate climates, flourish here luxuriantly. A friend of mine, last 
spring, a young farmer, planted a peck of potatoes ; his family consisted 
of himself, Avife, and two cliildren ; they made almost daily use of his 
potatoes from the time there were any small ones to be found, until 
digging time, when he took out nine busliels of potatoes for winter use. 
A remark here : None of these lands were manured ; that is a word not 
to be found in our farmer's lexicon. Not that manuring would not pay ; 
but what is the use ? All we have to do is to turn down -with a sod 
plough, at the rate of two or three acres a day, stick in the corn with an 
axe, and come out in the fall for the crop. Or, if we wish to sow 
wheat, all we have to do is to harrow a couple of times, and sow down 
the wheat. No lands, perhaps, under the sun, are capable of being ren- 
dered more fertile and productive by rotation of crops and all the appli- 
ances of scientific husbandry. 

There is Mr. K , wl^o came here a poor adventurer, with nothing 

of this world's goods ; he went to farming, continued it assiduously, 
turning his farm produce into stock, his stock into cash, and his cash 
into lands. He is now worth about fifty thousand dollars. 

A son of the preceding commenced about ten years ago doing business 
for himself He had about one thousand dollars to start with, and has 



41 

gone on increasing his wealth at the rate of a thousand a year. This 
was done exclusively hy farming. 

Colonel P came here as one of the early pioneers of this coun- 
try, went to tillhig the land, followed it up to the present time, engaging 
in nothing else. He is now worth about twenty thousand, having begun 
with less than one hundi'ed dollars. These are a few of the many that 
might be given. One remark about this country: One fair crop of any 
of the usual grains grown here is worth, when harvested, what the land 
will cost ; so that an emigrant can easily calculate what he can do on an 
average. Tluis, if he can plant and till one hundred acres of land by 
glutting in corn or wheat, he can pretty safely estimate, when he 
threshes his wheat, or cribs his corn, that it will be worth the prime cost 
of his one hundred acres of land. This is not all ; for when his land is 
ploughed and fenced it is worth double what it was before subjugation. 

In conclusion I would say, we are not crowded by reason of the densi- 
ty of our population. We need a large increase of intelligent, industri- 
ous, persevering young farmers. As yet but about one fourth of our 
lands are fenced ; and we have but a tithe of the wealth and population 
we shall have when this great valley shall become the agricultural cen- 
tre of the earth, and Illinois its most favored spot. 
Yours respectfully, 

JAMES PHILLIPS 



LETTER FROM A. J. GALLOWAY, ESQ. 

FARM IN THE VICINITY OF THE COMPANY'S LANDS. 

EwiNGTON, Effingham Co., Illinois, 
Fcbnuu-y 12, 1855. 
Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner, Illinois Central Railroad. 

Dear Sir: My residence in Illinois began in April, 1837. During 
the first four years I resided in Wabash County, after which I removed 
to the northern part of the State, and in 1842 purchased some lands in 
La Salle County. From that until the present time I have been making, 
cultivating, and extending my farm. 

The subsoil of the prairie land throughout the State, with a few ex- 
ceptions, is a compact clay, through which water settles but slowly, thus 
securing great durability to the natural soil, as well as effect uallj^ pre- 
venting the escape of artificial manures, l»y the process of leaching. 
Upon very level prairie, this characteristic causes the land to be too wet 
6 



42 

for the profitable cultivation of the several kinds of grain, without some 
special pre[)aration ; this, however, may be almost universally overcome 
by manuring, and deep and thorough ploughing ; deep ploughing alone 
will prove eflfectual in a large majority of instances. 

South of the ])arallel of forty-one degrees north latitude, the staple 
production is, and must continue to be, Indian corn, or maize, though 
almost all grain and vegetables, grown in a temperate climate, may be 
proiitably cultivated, and should not be neglected. 

During my residence upon my farm in La Salle County, our average 
crop of corn, say on a field of eighty acres, did not vary much from fifty 
bushels per acre. Winter wheat, (for I think spring Avheat a nui- 
sance,) upon a field of thirty acres, varied in different years from nine- 
teen to twenty-three bushels per acre, harvested with McCormick's Reap- 
er, and threshed and separated by machines built at Alton, Illinois. 
Oats varied from forty to sixty bushels per acre, and in one instance, 
upon a small' lot of four acres, I obtained almost one hundred bushels 
per acre. 

My estimate for the cost of jroduction and pi'eparation for market? 
previous to 1850, after allowing thirty-three per cent, of the crop for the 
use of the land, was forty cents per bushel for wheat, and about fifteen 
cents per bushel for corn and oats. 

I could usually obtain good farm hands (men) at one hundred to one 
hundred and twenty dollars per'jear, with board and lodging furnished. 

The many difficulties Avith which a single hand upon a farm has to 
contend, render it hard to say what one man, with a pair of horses, can 
cultivate properly — certainly not to exceed forty acres ; whereas two 
men, with four horses, could readily manage a hundred acres, and three 
men, with about five horses, one hundred and sixty acres, in addition to 
the usual amount of land devoted to meadow and grasses. 

In reply to j^our ninth interrogatory, I would say that south of the 
parallel I have mentioned, nearly one half of the Avhole farm devoted to 
grain and vegetables should be planted in corn, and three fourths of the 
remainder in wheat and oats, in about equal quantities. The cultivation 
of barley, rye, potatoes, &c., should be governed by the character of the 
farm, its position in relation to markets, and somewhat by the tastes, 
education, and habits of the farmer. 

In La Salle County, where wood land is not so plenty as it is in this 
region, a good common rail fence would cost about seventy-five cents per 
rod ; but I liave contracted for a number of miles of such fence, eight 
rails high, staked and riddered, with a sound block under each corner, 
to be built in this and some other counties for the Illinois Central Rail- 
road, at the rate of fifty cents per rod. 



43 

I have tried different methods of turning up or breaking prairie sod, 
and am fully satislied that wliere the prairie is clear, that is, destitute of 
hazel bushes, or other woody growth, a man who understands the busi- 
ness, Avith a good pair of horses and a plough properly constructed, such 
as was manufactured a few years since in Indian Town, Bureau County, 
can do the work better and cheaper than in any other way that has ever 
come under my observation. One acre and a half per day is the fair 
average for such a team. Prairie should always be broken between the 
10th of May and the 20th of June, in the latitude of La Salle County. 
In this county the work should be completed as early as the 10th of June. 

For persons wishing to make a settlement in Illinois, I should advise 
about the same course for almost any part of tlie State with which I am 
acquainted. The first thing such person should do is to make a per- 
sonal examination of the country, and select a location. Then, if he 
should have the means to spare, and could purchase forty or eighty acres 
of good prairie land, not more than five miles from where materials for 
building, fencing, and fuel, can be obtained at reasonable rates, and get a 
long credit upon three fourths of the purchase money, I should advise 
him to secure it at once. 

He should then procure a good jiair of horses and wagon, a cow, a 
few pigs, and some poultry, and two good ploughs, one for breaking 
})rairie and the other for cultivating land already subdued. Thus pro- 
vided, it would be well if he could rent a small tenement with a few 
acres of improved land near his own, for a year or two, until he could 
get his farm under way. But if no such tenement could be obtained, 
he should at once build a cheap house upon his own land, and push for- 
ward his improvements. 

Prairie sod broken in the manner and at the time heretofore stated, 
will be sufficiently rotten to cross-plough as early as the 10th of Au- 
gust. This cross-ploughing should not be neglected, and in the north of 
the State wheat should be sown broadcast, and harrowed both ways, or 
drilled in by a proper machine, about the 1st of September. Wheat 
sown upon such land in this manner rarely fails to produce an excellent 
crop. The next two years after the wheat is taken off the ground, two 
good crops of corn may be produced, with comparatively little labor. 
Oats is perhaps the proper grain for the fourth crop ; and by that time, 
if the new settler be a man of reasonably perceptive powers, he will 
have made himself sufficiently well acquainted with the soil, climate, ro- 
tation of crops, &c., to manage his farm to good advantage. Much may 
be learned from the many agricultural periodicals with which our coun- 
try abounds, and no farmer should be Avithout one or more of these valua- 
ble aids. But, to succeed well, he must thoroughly investigate the local 



44 

peculiarities of his own neighborhood, and especially those of his own 
farm. 

There is a general and growing disposition throughout the State to 
educate ; and in a very few years, all the educational facilities which 
exist in the Eastern States will be at the command of the citizens of 
Illinois. 

There is little disease at any time in the State, which may not be 
traced, directly or indirectly, to derangement in the biliary organs ; and 
much of this should, no doubt, be attributed to the free use of heavy 
bread, strong coftec, and a large amount of animal food, to the partial or 
total exclusion of vegetable diet. I think I am free from [)rejudice 
when I say that, except in the valleys of the larger streams, but more 
especially upon the high rolling prairies of Middle and Northern Illinois, 
a more healthy country is not to be found, even in the mountainous dis- 
tricts of the older States. 

In these hasty lines, I have endeavored to answer some of your inter- 
rogatories as categorically as their nature would permit, without attempt- 
ing to sustain my opinions by argument. If they should prove of the 
least service to you or others, I shall be more than compensated for the 
very little time and attention which I have felt at liberty to bestow upon 
them. Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. J. GALLOWAY. 



LETTER FROM C. G. TAYLOR, ESQ. 

pLEAS.iNT Ridge, Rock Island Co., Illinois, ) 
December 22, 1856. ) 

Joseph B. Austin, Esq. 

Land Depdrtment, Illinois Central Railroad Co. 

Dear Sir : Your letter requesting me to furnish the public, through 
your published circular, Avith information as to the method and results of 
farming, as practised in Illinois, reached me a few days since. I Avill 
cheerfully do all in my power to effect your object, though I trust you 
will hear from others more versed in writing than myself. 

I was raised in Jeifcrson County, New York State, amidst the log 
cabins, stumps, rocks, and snow banks ; my father was a farmer, and I 
know full well what it costs to farm in Northern New York, from the 
felling of the first tree to placing the land under a good state of cultiva- 
tion. In tlie spring of 1844, I removed to this State, and have been 
engaged in farming most of the time since. The soil of tliis portion of 



45 

Illinois is a dark, rieh mould, varying from two to six feet in depth, with 
clay bottom ; ther(3 is but little sandy soil hereabouts ; about one tenth 
of the country is covered with fine timber, mostly on the borders of our 
rivers and small streams; timber land is Indd at from l$10 to $-30 per 
acre, according to quality and location. Our water is usually hard. The 
surface of the land in this county being generally level, but few springs 
are afforded ; the best of water, however, can be readily obtained by 
digging, and is usually found in abundance, at the depth of from ten to 
twenty-five feet. There is also a plentiful supply for stock, in our ra- 
vines, small streams, and sloughs. Stone and brick, for cellars and 
buildings, are scarce on these prairies ; but cement, plastered on a mud 
wall, answers very well, and makes a neat and dry cellar. Pine lumber 
and oak posts are now mostly used by the new settlers for fencing ; a 
good fence can be put u]) at from eighty cents to one dollar and a quar- 
ter per rod, according to the number of boards high the fence may be 
built. No settler, new or old, should neglect, however, to raise the 
Osage Orange or Madura hedge, as, Avith proper care, in four years 
time he can have the most durable and beautiful living fence, the entire 
cost of which will not have exceeded 25 or 30 cents per rod. Mate- 
rials for building are procured from rafts on our rivers, or at Chicago, 
from whence they are conveyed, by railroads, to any part of the State. 

The breaking of prairie is mostly done in May or June, though it can 
be carried on at any season when the frost is out of the ground. Many 
farmers use the heavy breaking plough, cutting a furrow from eighteen 
to twenty-six inches wide, and about three inches deep, requiring a force 
of from three to six yoke of oxen ; of late, however, so many inli)rove- 
ments have been made in the form and draught of plouglis, that the 
prairie can be readily broken, at the rate of one and a quarter to one 
and a half acres per day, with a single pair of horses ; and this mode I 
think })refei'able to the use of the heavy plough and large teams. This 
every farmer can do Avith his own team, and at his leisure. I break 
from fifteen to thirty acres annually, conmiencing soon after corn jilant- 
ing, and thus add every year to my improvements, within my own means. 
There are several Plough Factories in this State, where ploughs, made 
of the best steel, and on the newest plans, may be purchased for about 
$16 each. These are made with a rolling colter, which I consider the 
best. I will here remark that ploughs made of cast iron will not work 
well in our soil, as it is impossible to keep them bright ; only those made 
of the best of steel, and of the right turn and shape, will scour in our 
rich, loose mould. All kinds suitable for our soil are made in the State, 
and delivered by railroad, at any point, at reasonable rates. 

Sod corn, if planted in the month of May, and followed by favorable 



46 

weather, viz., warm and wet, will yield from twenty to fifty bushels per 
acre. The planting is done by sticking an axe or spade between the 
layers of sod, and after dropping tlie corn, applying the heel of t/te boot 
freely. It needs no culture. 

If a very light crop of corn is raised, tlie stalks may be removed, and 
the ground sown with winter wheat. If a heavy crop, it will take too 
much work to clear the ground of the stalks, and the stumps and roots 
Avill be a groat hinderance to the harrow, as the corn roots are strongly 
set in the sod. If the sod crop cannot be relied on Avith safety, it is, 
perhaps, better to let the sod lie until September, and then sow with 
winter -wheat, and harrow thoroughly. Tins is almost invariably a sure 
crop, more so than any of the after ones, as the sod holds the roots dur- 
ing our usually dry and snowless winter. Or, the sod may lie till spring, 
and then be sown with spring wheat, and harrowed only. Let it be 
cross-ploughed, and we have what no field can be in the Eastern States, 
with all the manure coml)ined. The soil being a black mould, and very 
mellow, any thing will grow in it that grows in this latitude. Spring 
Avheat and oats arc lialjle to grow too rank. They should be sown as 
soon as the frost is out of the ground, that the straw may liaA^e a stunted 
growth. If sown late, say after the first of April, too much straw is 
grown, which is liable to cause the wheat to blast, smut, &c. .We have 
no summer fallows in this section, and I have seen none in Illinois. 

We raise but little winter wheat, (in this particular section of the 
State,) after tlie first crop, on the first breaking, until we break up a 
tame meadow or pasture ; then again we have a fine crop. Our usual 
mode of raising spring wheat, oats, and barley, is to sow on the fall 
ploughing, or on corn ground without ploughing, — only harrowing. I 
raise all my small grain as above, ploughing no land in the spring, ex- 
cept for corn and vegetables. My cro])S for several years past have 
averaged, Corn 75 bushels per acre, Oats GO bushels. Spring Wheat 25 
bushels. Potatoes varying from 100 to 300 bushels. 

One team can do the work on a farm of fifty or sixty acres, if all the 
breaking is done. All stubble laml should bo ploughed in the fall, and 
be ready for the small grain in the spring. One man and two horses 
can easily tend thirty to forty acres of com, one ploughing for which is 
sufficient; then mark off both wavs rows about three and a half feet 
wide, and plant the seed with a machine or a hoe. A man can cover 
four acres per day ; a small boy can drop the seed. The hoe is hardly 
ever used, as we have machines which drop and cover by man or horse 
power. We harrow with a three-cornered harrow, by knocking out the 
forward teeth, as soon as the corn is out of the ground, then use the cul- 
tivator, or one horse plough, and woi'k it both ways ; twice working after 
harrowing is sufficient; no hoeing required. A fair yield of winter 



4T 

wheat is about twenty -five bushels per acre ; spring wheat, twenty to 
thirty ; oats, forty to seventy-live ; barley, twenty to forty ; winter rye, 
twenty to tliirty ; corn, forty to ciglity ; potatoes, one hundred to three 
hundred. 

We commence to harvest our corn about tlie 10th of October. There 
is more liarvested in December than in any other month. Corn can be 
raised and cribbed at 15 cents per bushel. Our small grain is all cut by 
machinery. A machine, followed by six binders, cuts and shocks from 
ten to fifteen acres per diiy. Price of cutting, 60 to 75 cents per acre. 
To binders we pay from §1 to $1 50 per day. As it is impossible to 
house all the grain, it is stacked. Threshing is also done by machinery. 
This, with cleaning, will cost 5 cents per bushel for wheat ; oats, 2^- cents. 

The straw is usually stacked, to which the cattle have free access dur- 
ing the winter. 

Oar market is at Chicago or St. Louis. No part of our State is far 
from railroad or steamboat shipping, having about 2400 miles of the for- 
mer now in good running order, and about 1000 miles of river naviga- 
tion, besides our Canal and Lake coast. 

Our charges correspond with the Eastern market, with the freight 
charge' deducted. 

Our soil is well calculated for the production of the tame grasses. 
Our meadows yield from one and a half to three tons per acre. Ground 
that has been mown for ten or fifteen years produces better crops than 
the new land, because the to[) soil, which is principally composed of 
decayed grass and the ashes deposited by annual burnings, is very loose 
and open. After deep ploughing, and comparatively using up this to^i 
soil, we obtain a more compact and fine soil, which will hold the roots of 
the grass firm and secure. Clover grov/s luxuriantly, but the trouble is, 
there is not a sufficient quantity sown to supply the great demand. 

There has been, until lately, but little attention paid to the raising of 
stock. At this present time, we can boast of being equal to the other 
States in some choice selections of the best stock in the Union. Only a 
small portion of prairie is yet broken. The cattle roam as n|)on a 
" thousand hills " during the summer ; but in the winter are fed upon 
straw, standing cornstalks, and prairie hay. Very little corn fodder is 
cut and cured, being too heavy to handle. Probably three fourths of our 
hay, as yet, is cut upon the prairie, which makes, if well cured, excellent 
feed. Any quantity of this hay can be cut in any section, yielding from 
one to three tons per acre. I have fed, for several winters, between 
sixty and ninety head of cattle upon prairie hay, and have not lost a 
single one by disease. Our hay is cut by mowing machines, at a cost 
of 75 cents to $1 per ton, taking it af^er the machine, the buyer raking, 
and hauling it home. The feed for a cow, aside from grain, will not 



48 

exceed $4 per year. Our pasture is free. Our prairie grass is fully 
equal to tame grass, for butter, cheese, &c., up to the time of frost, which 
is usually about the 10th of October, The product from my dairy of 
about thirty-five cows, for the last six years, has been on an average 
about $24: per coav, besides the slop for hogs, and the feed for nearly as 
many calves. For the last two years, in the fall, the price of butter has 
been from 20 to 25 cents per pound, and cheese 10 to 15 cents. I think 
these figures will be near the standard for years to come. 

In regard to fruit, I will say that there is a very growing attention 
now paid to raising the choicer varieties, and we have all the best which 
will flourish in the Eastern or Middle States. At the nurseries in this 
State, all desirable varieties may be pui'chased at fair prices. There is 
no State in the Union that can support so large, a population as Illinois. 
Now, not more than one sixth part of the surface is under cultivation. 
There is scarcely an acre that can be called ivaste ground. "\Ve have no 
mountains nor rocks ; no stumps to grub out ; no stones to pick off, and 
seldom a snow bank to wallow through. I believe if this State was cul- 
tivated as New York or Massachusetts, it would feed the Union. 

A grant of one thirty-sixth part of the former government lands was 
set apart by Congress for public schools. Our State debt will- all be 
paid in a few years by the internal resources, without the increase of 
taxation. This debt has been a bugbear to some of our Eastern friends, 
declining to locate with us, for fear of being obliged to help pay it. This 
objection is now removed. Why the Eastern emigrants seek a home in 
Nebraska, Minnesota, or even in Iowa, is strange to my mind. Illinois 
has all the advantages that any reasonable man could desire. Our rail- 
roads are now so connected that we have quick and easy access to any 
part of the Union, while the Eastern market is brought to our very door. 
For the last three years, there have been, each season, 50,000 bushels of 
Wheat, 25,000 bushels of Oats, and 75,000 bushels of Corn raised im- 
mediately around, and fairly in sight from, my house. As to health, we 
are willing to enter into comparison with any State in the Union. Con- 
sumption, which carries off its victims by thousands in the Eastern 
States, is almost unknown here, and I can have no doubt but that the 
most cautious of our Eastern friends, upon a full examination of the 
facts and statistics connected with our State and neighborhood, would be 
entirely satisfied that prudence in living, and a clear conscience, bring 
with them the same ruddy cheek and vigorous life as are found existing 
in any State or country in the world. I have endeavored to bring 
this letter up to the present state of aflfiiirs in this portion of our State, 
and would request you to publish it instead of my former one, now sev- 
eral years old. Very respectfully yours, 

C. G. TAYLOR. 



49 



ILLINOIS THROUGH MASSACHUSETTS SPECTACLES. 

Permit me, as a Massachusetts farmer, under the above heading, to 
give a flxint glimpse of some matters and things in the Prairie State — 
as seen through my glasses. 

Every farmer knows well the benefit of crossing his stock, and it may 
be that ideas improve under a similar law ; at the worst, I shall be safe, 
as there is no possible danger for me to lose by the cross, but have every 
chance to gain. 

It will not do for the New England man to come here and carry out 
all his notions of economy ; his ideas will be altogether too contracted ; 
he only knows of farming upon a limited scale, and " under difhculties." 
In this State, nature has done much for the husbandman, and his system 
of agriculture must be as broad and comprehensive as the prairies them- 
selves. In New England, there is more calculation, more order, more 
method, more finish ; the soil being so sterile, the people have been ne- 
cessitated to learn these sterling qualities. In this State, I am sorry to 
say, they seem but little practised ; but there is no spot on the globe 
where it would pay better. It is true, the land fever has raged exten- 
sively among your farmers, and they have invested every spare dollar in 
increasing the number of their acres, instead of building houses and 
barns, and purchasing fai'ming utensils, and giving their homes an air of 
comfort ; and it has proved to be a good investment : but there are very 
many who have secured the number of acres to satisfy them, who have 
all kinds of stock in abundance, and money besides, who do not live and 
enjoy the comforts of home and social life in so high a degree as the 
mechanic m New England, who supports himself and his family upon 
one dollar and a half per day. This class of farmers have, no doubt, 
generally commenced poor, and struggled with all the disadvantages of a 
border life, until the introduction of railroads into the State, when they 
availed themselves of the benefits, and found fortunes in the sudden rise 
in the value of their estates, but have no desire further to improve their 
condition. 

So far as health is concerned, time will prove that the prairies of the 
West will compare well with any of the Eastern States. Eastern people 
have made a big bugbear out of the miasma of the prairies ; but if they 
will turn their attention to the thousands of alder swamps between their 
hills, where the sun and wind are almost strangers, they will discover 
more causes of ill health concentrated there in a few aci*es, than are scat- 
tered over a whole prairie, where the pui'ifying influences of the sun 
and wind have full scope. This season has been an unusually unhealthy 
7 



50 

one for this State ; but during the most sickly time, I was wandering 
over the prairies, and I saw but few instances where the ill health could 
not be directly traced to infrhigements of physical laws, either through 
ignorance or necessity. In some cases of chills and fever that have 
come under my observation, a few outward applications of soap and 
water no doubt would have relieved the patient. Then, again, if the 
pioneers would eat less pork, and more fruit and vegetables, it would be 
much better for them ; and I only wonder, all things considered, that 
there is so much health there, the people are such big sinners in a physi- 
cal point of view. Pure water is an important item in the bill of health, 
though it is but little attended to. People all over the prairies drink 
surface water, when, with digging or boring, pure water can be had ; or, 
what might be still better for family use, cisterns can be sunk in the 
<nirth at a trifling expense, to save all the rain water from buildings. 
When the new settlers get the conveniences of life around them, the 
{)rairies Avill be regarded as more healthy than the Eastern States. The 
fevers of the West will never be a match for the consumption of the 
East. 

Now to farming. At the East, large stories are in circulation about 
the productiveness of Illinois, and I am happy to say that I have seen 
with my own eyes crops of various kinds upon the soil, which if I should 
report them at the East, I should not be believed, though I have a de- 
cent reputation for truth there. For this fruitfulness, nature should 
i-eceive all the thanks, — the farmer none. Though blessed with the 
most productive soil, it is improved but poorly. At most, not one culti- 
vator in ten can lay any claim to the name of farmer ; though it is true, 
that circumstances have been very much against the development of the 
agricultural interest of this State, until the opening of the railroads. 
Now, farming has received such an impetus that it will soon come up to 
the standard it is destined to reach ; but so fertile is the soil, the extent 
of its capacity to produce is unlimited. Corn and wheat are the crops 
farmers mostly rely upon ; but barley, rye, beans, potatoes, onions, flax, 
and fruits of all kinds adapted to the State, in addition, will pay equally 
as well, and for a number of years, even better. In fact, the farmer 
cannot turn his attention to stock raising or the cultivation of any crop, 
if he is a practical man, and has any energy, Avithout realizing a fortune, 
and, too, at prices far below the present. As an act of humanity, and 
for the saving of thousands of tons of beef and pork, he should provide 
temporary sheds, if nothing more, for the protection of his flocks and 
herds. The cold winds on the prairies are as hard for cattle to bear, 
and they need as much shelter in the winter, as in Massachusetts ; and 
persons there, not providing shelter for their cattle, would be indicted for 



51 

cruelty to dumb beasts. If beasts are exposed, the natural heat of the 
animal must be kept up with extra feed, or at the expense of the ani- 
mal ; and the consequent result is, that in the spring, most of the cattle 
here are poor, and then it takes half the following summer to get them 
up again. 

After spending a few months in travelling over this State, and seeing 
for myself, I have made an estimate of the production, or, rather, the 
amount of produce a good farmer can sell from a section of land, after 
provisioning his family and assistants, and feeding the necessary teams to 
be employed upon a grain farm, taking the prairie in the wild state, and 
for the first years commencing moderately, by ploughing one third the 
first, two thirds the second, and the whole the third, fourth, and fifth 
years ; and I think that fifty thousand dollars can be realized, as the 
total receipts for the five years' term. This estimate is for a grain 
farm, which should be located in the neighborhood of a depot. During 
these five years, fruit trees and other improvements should be going on, 
to keep up with the age. The double plough should be used in break- 
ing the sod, so that as good a crop can be had the first as succeeding 
years. From what I know of farming in New England, I should much 
rather prefer land in tliis State, if I could get it upon a long credit, so as 
to put my capital into improvements, than to accept of one half of the 
farms there Avitli a free title to commence with. Practise the same 
energy and industry as would be necessary there, and a young man can 
earn his farm here, and be wealthier in ten years, than he could to have 
a farm presented him in New England to start with. One Avord about 
wood land, and my long yarn shall break. Eastern men, on first coming 
into this State, sigh for more wood land ; but they soon learn that there 
is coal enough below its surface to warm up the hearts and bodies of all 
of Uncle Sam's family, besides genei'ating steam enough to drive all the 
engines in creation to all eternity. 

Then, again, in twenty years from this time, there will be twenty 
times as much forest as at present ; for as soon as the prairie fires are 
stopped, timber starts up ; and trees every intelligent fiirmer is now 
planting, just where he wants them, to beautify and adorn his lands. 
Fencing material will be mostly supplied by hedging, which will also 
tend to make this State what nature has designed it to be — the Eden 
of America. 

L. G. CHASE. 

Pera Station, Dec. 29th, 1855. 

On Chicago Branch of Illinois C. R. R. 



52 



LETTER FROM DANIEL ARTER, ESQ. 

Villa Ridge, Illinois, Jan. 25, 1856. 
Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissionei'. 

Dear Sir : Understanding that you are desirous of obtaining informa- 
tion concerning the agricultural capabilities, general features, &c., of the 
southern, as well as other portions of Illinois, I cheerfully offer the fol- 
lowing facts. 

For upwards of twenty years I have been a permanent resident of 
the southern part of the State, located opposite Section 12 of the Illinois 
Central Railroad, (12 miles from Cairo,) and three quarters of a mile 
from said road, in a westerly direction. During that period, my atten- 
tion has been mainly devoted to agriculture, and the practice of medi- 
cine — the pursuit of which calling will enable me to bear valuable 
testimony, perhaps, in behalf of, at least, the locality wherein I operated. 

The land I have cultivated has proved itself well adapted to the rais- 
ing of quite every kind of grain, fruits, vegetables, &c., which an agree- 
able medium of climate allows. 

The average yield of my farm, which is mainly hill land, not abruptly 
broken, however, and which (I can safely add) is the general character 
of the county (Pulaski) wherein I reside, has been about as follows : — 
Corn, 40 to 45 bushels per acre. 
Wheat, 20 " " 

Potatoes, 250 " « 

whilst oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, &c., grow in just proportion. 

Of fruits I have ever had an abundant yield ; peaches, plums, 
quinces, cherries, and pears being cultivated with remarkable success, so 
far as experiments have been made, whilst the culture of apples has 
never failed to reward abundantly all labor and expense bestowed. 

Vegetables, of almost every character, quite every description of grape 
and berry, grow astonishingly, although little attention is now being paid 
to their cultivation. Much of the land is peculiarly adapted to the cul- 
tivation of the grape ; and nowhere do I know of a locality more fitly 
situated for an extensive gardening interest than that in question. Its 
situation is but a few miles from Cairo, — a market rarely, if ever, over- 
stocked with vegetables, owing to the great river demand, — and suffi- 
ciently distant south from Chicago to enable the producer to ripen cer- 
tain garden products a few weeks after the seeds of similar products 
begin to germinate so far north. 

The climate is happily exem})t from all remarkable extremes. The 
country is abundantly supplied with never-failing springs of pure, cold 



53 

water, is well timbered, generally provided with every necessary the 
wants of the settler demand, and bears a reputation for hedlth among 
those familiar with the locality, which alone should render it a desirable 
place of residence, were every other feature less encouraging than here 
truthfully represented. I am, sir, your ob't serv't, 

DANIEL ARTER. 



LETTER FROM JOSEPH C. ORTH, ESQ. 

McCleary's Bluff, Wabash Co., Illinois, \ 
December 16, 1855. ^ 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner. 
Dear Sir : I have been a resident of this county for the past twelve 
years, having emigrated from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and have 
devoted a large portion of the time since to agricultural pursuits. From 
close observations during this period, I have become pretty thoroughly 
acquainted with Southern Illinois, and its relative advantages and disad- 
vantages, as compared with the northern part of the State. The soil 
upon the upland is not so rich in appearance as that in the northern 
prairies, being a gi'ayish calcareous clay, with an admixture of vegetable 
mould ; but produces, with proper cultivation, very heavy crops of corn, 
often equal to those raised on the black alluvial soil skirting the streams. 
It is peculiarly adapted to the smaller grains, such as wheat, oats, barley, 
rye, and also the various meadow grasses. The culture of wheat has 
been of comparatively recent introduction into this section of the State ; 
and such has been the remarkable success of the experiment, that it is 
destined to become one of the principal staples of Southei'u Illinois. 
The average crops of Pennsylvania farmers, who have here turned their 
attention to its growth, have been about 23 bushels per acre, of winter 
wheat. The grain is plump and heavy, often weighing as high as GG 
pounds to the bushel. In the fall of 1853, the premium priced wheat 
received at the St. Louis market was shipped from this section of the 
State. The variety principally grown is the white or blue stem ; though 
the red varieties are equally sure and productive. An experienced 
Pennsylvania fai'mer, Mr. George Glick, who has resided here some 
years, last season travelled through Illinois, from here to Galena, and was 
led, from motives of curiosity, to examine the specimens O-" wheat in the 
stacks, granaries, and mills along his route. He came back fully satisfied 
that the best region in IlHnois for raising winter wheat is south of the 
National Road. The berry is larger and heavier, and the plant not so 



54 

likely to freeze out as on the extreme northern prairies, where the win- 
ter winds- blow off the light, porous soil from about the roots. The high 
character of Southern Illinois wheat is still more clearly demonstrated 
by the fact that the specimens of wheat from Union, one of the south- 
ernmost counties, bore off the premium at the last State Fair at Chicago. 

Among the grasses, timothy and blue grass thrive well, and clover is 
particularly a sure crop, yielding two tons of hay and two bushels of 
seed per acre. I know from experience that our gray upland soil may 
be annually eni-iched by a proper rotation of crops, and by occasionally 
seedhig down in clover. It is unnecessary to say any thing of the 
general productive capacity of this region, so far as Indian corn is con- 
cerned. Even with the careless cultivation usually bestowed upon it, 
the yield is equal to that of any portion of the Mississippi valley. A 
peculiar feature of Southern Illinois is, that the timber land and prai- 
rie alternate in tracts of convenient size, and the sui-face is more undu- 
lating, as a general thing, than in the north part of the State, thus 
affording facilities for convenient drainage. 

For stock raising, this region offers great advantages, as the winters 
are comparatively mild and short, and domestic animals consequently 
require less food, and can be raised with less expense than in a higher 
latitude. 

As to health, I candidly believe Southern Illinois -will compare favor- 
ably with any portion of the west. That scourge of the North, con- 
sumption, is almost unknown here. It is true that on the rich lowlands 
bordering the streams, bilious disorders prevail to some extent in the fall 
season, but on the uplands, good health may be enjoyed, with ordinary 
prudence. Diseases, the result of miasma, prevail in every new coun- 
try south of the 44th parallel of latitude, when the virgin soil is first 
turned over and exposed to the atmosphere. It was so in the Genesee 
valley, in New York, and in the valley of the Miami, in Ohio, and lias 
been so in Illinois ; but the country becomes more healthful as it grows 
older. A great deal of ague and chills is attributable to errors in diet, 
to imprudent exposui-e, to uncomfortable dwelhng houses, and to using 
well water where it leaches through the soil, instead of flowing through 
veins in the rock. By occupying comfortable tenements, avoidii:!g need- 
less exposure, eating suitable food, and using only sweet, pure water for 
di'inking and culinary purposes, as good health may be enjoyed in South- 
ern Ilhnois as any where in the Union. 

An unjust prejudice has hitherto prevailed against this section of the 
State. None of the great avenues of travel have, until recently, passed 
through it. It looks uninviting and sterile to those who only view it 
from the steamers as they sweep ai'ound its borders on the Mississippi 



55 

and Ohio Rivers. Immense tracts of its fertile wood land and prairies 
were, until recently, in the hands of squatters, who had held it for years 
as jjublic land, thus avoiding paying Government for the land, and 
tuxes to the State. They purposely discouraged all those who wished 
to settle among them, and gave currency to all manner of evil reports 
concerning the country, to prevent strangers from entering them out at 
the United States' land otfices. This class are, however, fast leaving, and 
giving place to better citizens. 

These causes, and others which might be enumerated, have conspired 
to keep Southern Illinois in the background ; but through the influence 
of the railroads that are now penetrating it, its intrinsic advantages must 
soon become known ; and the inducements it offers in soil, climate, and 
convenience, either to the New Orleans, St. Louis, or Chicago markets, 
will gradually become appreciated by the sagacious and enterprising 
emigrant farmer. 

Very respectfully yours, 

JOSEPH C. ORTH. 



LETTER FROM J. AMBROSE WIGHT, ESQ. 

EDITOR OP THE PRAIKIE FARMER. 

Hon. John "Wilson. 

Dear Sir : At your request I would state that, from an acquaintance 
with Illinois lands and Illinois farmers of eighteen years, thirteen of 
which I have been engaged as editor of the Prairie Farmer, I am pre- 
pared to give the following as the rates of produce which may be had 
per acre, with ordinary culture : — 

Winter wheat, 15 to 25 bushels. 

Spring wheat, 10 to 20 " 

Indian com, 40 to* 70 " 

Oats, 40 to "SO '•' 

Potatoes, . . . . , . . , . 100 to 200 " 

Grass, (timothy and clover,) li to 3 tons. 

" Ordinary culture" on prairie lands, is not what is meant by the term 
in the Eastern or Middle States. It means, here, no manure ; and com- 
monly hut once, or, at most, twice ploughing, on perfectly smooth land, 
with long furrows, and no stones or obstructions ; when two acres per 
day is no hard job for one team. It is often but very poor culture, witli 
shallow ploughing, and without attention to weeds. 

I have known crops, not unfrequently, far greater than these, with but 



56 

little variation in their treatment ; say forty to fifty bushels of winter 
wheat, sixty to eighty of oats, three hundred of potatoes, and one hun- 
dred of Indian corn. " Good culture" which means rotation, deep 
ploughing, farms well stocked, and some manure, applied at intervals of 
from three to five years, would, in good seasons, very often approach 
these latter figures. 

Yours, truly, 

J. AMBROSE WIGHT. 

January 9, 1855. 



Extract from the Chicago Daily Democratic Press. 

ILLINOIS FAEMS AND FARMERS. 

"We find a letter in the Hunterton Gazette, New Jersey, from a 
prominent citizen of that section who has been out West prospecting, 
with a view of locating among us. Speaking of farms and farmers in 
Illinois, he says, — 

Let me cite a few facts which I know to be true, however large they 
may seem to be. Mr. Peter C. Rea, who resided twelve years in Eari- 
tan, near Clover Hill, and emigrated to Illinois, Fulton County, in the 
early part of this year, told me he had raised and sold more wheat since 
he had been there, than he had done in twelve years he had resided in 
Raritan. He simply raked together and burned the cornstalks in the 
spring, and without ploughing the ground, sowed it with spring wheat and 
harrowed it in, and in a few months reaped a fine crop of spring wheat. 
He has, besides, on his farm a good prospect for a crop of winter wheat. 
I ate at his house some bread made of the flour from his spring wheat, 
and it was as white and as good as any I ever ate in Ncav Jersey. He 
also told me he should probably make as much money this year in Illi- 
nois as he did in twelve years in New Jersey. 

I saw a farmer in Peoria County, wlio lived on a rented farm of eighty 
acres, for which he paid $200 rent for the .land, and $26 for the house ; 
he did all his work himself, except some help in planting corn ; had one 
team of horses, and after paying his rent, and supporting his family, 
would clear one thousand dollars this year. 

My friend, Mr. D. H. L. Sutphin, of Pike County, formerly of this 
county, had a field in with wheat, and harvested therefrom upwards of 
3000 bushels. He hired every thing done, and if I remember correctly, 
had cleared, over and above all expenses, about $2000 by this operation. 
He introduced me to a gentleman by the name of Simpkins, in that 



57 

county, who came there a few years ago with nothing save his health 
and his hands. He was now farming, and he told us that he would sell 
this year produce from his farm amounting to between $17,000 and 
$18,000. I saw his hog-pen, containing 481 fat hogs, which would av- 
erage 350 pounds each. 

I am fearful that if I give you any larger facts than these, they may 
be doubted ; but one more before I close. I was in Morgan County, 
and near Jacksonville was the farm of Mr. Funk, and I was told from a 
reliable source, that he sold that year $G0,000 worth of cattle from off 
his farm. I know instances where men have done even better than this 
the past year ; but it is needless to relate more particulars. If it would 
be proper, I could give you the names of men from this county, who 
were poor men when here, and probably would always have been poor 
men if they had remained here, who are now owning farms in Illinois, 
in some instances upwards of 300 acres, and getting rich fast. My 
opinion is, that there never was a more favorable time for emigrating to 
Illinois than the present. Ti'ue, lands are greatly enhanced in value ; 
but prices of grain are yearly approximating New York prices, and the 
good prairie land is better woi'th $100 per acre than our best New Jer- 
sey is worth $50. 



LETTER FROM JOHN S. PEIRONNEL, ESQ. 

Peru, IlldvOIS, January 1, 1856. 
Hon. John Wilson, Chicago. 

Dear Sir : According to your request, I send you a statement of the 
corn I raised on a ten-acre lot formerly sold the Rev. William Uhl, (less 
half acre for road,) which I bought last April for thirty dollars per acre, 
($300,) which I thought at the time a high price. Since then I have 
bought 90 acres more, at much higher rates, and am sorry I cannot buy 
more. I have formerly lived in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, for 
thirty-three years, and had a farm there, which I sold when coming 
West, two years since, for $41 25 per acre. Now, sir, I candidly say 
I get more corn off the ten acres I give you a description of, than can 
be raised off said farm in Pennsylvania, 60 acres. The nature of the 
prairie land is such, that ten acres can be cultivated easier than one in 
Pennsylvania. I market more grain this season than the whole town- 
ship I came from in Pennsylvania, (Choconut;) and I candidly say, if my 
old neighbors and friends knew the beauty of this vast Western country, 
Susquehanna County would again become a wilderness. 
I am, dear sir, your obt. servt., 

8 JNO. S. PEIRONNEL. 



68 



STATEMENT 

OF THE EXPENDITURES, RECEIPTS, AND PROFITS OF THE FARM OP 
WM. P. WEST, OF BATAVIA, FOR 1853. 

Editors Prairie Farmer : In compliance with the request of Mr. 
Thomas Juclcl, one of the committee on farming, I submit the following 
in relation to the cost of raising the various crops, viz. : — 

Twenty-three Acres Winter Jflieat. 
1852. 
June. To breaking 23 .acres, 3 inches deep, at $ 1 50 per acre, . 
\ug. To 8 days' cross-ploughing, 4 inches deep, at $2, 

fclept. 1. To 46 bushels Soule's seed -wheat, at 75 c. per bushel, 
do. To 2 days' work sowing the same, at $1, . 
do. To 6 dajs' work, harrowing, at $2 per day, 
1853. 
July 15. To cost harvesting 23 acres, at $1 50 per acre, 
do. To thi-eshing 690 bushels, at 8 c. per bushel, 
do. To hauluig the same to market, at 2 c, . 



$34 50 


16 


00 


34 


50 


2 


00 


12 


00 


34 


50 


55 


20 


13 


80 



$202 50 



1853. Cr. 

By 30 bushels per acre, 690 bushels, at 95 c, $655 50 

CDSt, 202 50 

INet profits, $453 00 

Cost per acre, ' . . $8 80 

Net profits per acre, 19 70 

Seventeen and a half Acres Winter Wheat on Corn Ground. 

1852. Dk. 

^ug. 20. To sowing \h days, at $1 per day, $1 50 

do. To 35 bushels Soule's seed wheat, at 75 c, . . . 26 25 

do. To 4 days' work, man, horse, and shovel plough, at $1 50, 6 00 

do. To 2 days' work, man, horse, and small harrow, at $1 50, 3 00 

do. To 6 days' work, hoeing in wheat around hills, ... 6 00 
1853. 

/uly 10. Cost harvesting I7i acres, at $1 50 per acre, . . . 26 25 

do. To tlu-eshing 394 bushels, at 8 c. per bushel, . . . 31 52 

do. To carting 214 bushels to market, at 2 c. per bushel, . 4 28 

Total cost, $104 80 



1853. Cr. 

By 22^ bushels per acre, .... 394 bushels. 



59 

214 bushels, sold at 95 c. per bushel, 

180 bushels, sold at farm, at $1 per bushel, 



Cost, 



$203 30 
180 00 

383 30 
104 80 



Net profits, 17 h acres, 

Cost per acre, 

Net profits per acre, 

Twelve Acres of Oats. 
1853. 
AprQ 15. To 5 days' ploughing, at $2, . 
do. To 4 days' harrowing, at $2, . 
do. To 36 bushels oats for seed, and 1 day's work at $1, 
do. To threshing, $42, harvesting, $18, . 



$278 50 



$5 98 




15 91 






Dr. 




$10 00 


. 


8 00 


, 


10 00 


, , 


60 00 



Total, $88 00 



1853. 
By 87^ bushels per acre, making 1050 bushels, at 25 c, 
Cost, . 



Cr. 

$262 50 
88 00 



Net profits, $174 50 

Cost per acre, $7 33 

Net profits per acre, 14 54 



JVine and a half Acres of Spring Wheat. 



1852. 



Sept. To 5 days' ploughing, 8 inches deep, at $2, 
do. To 19 bushels Rio seed wheat, at 75 c, . 

1853. 

March 25. 1 day's sowing the same 

3 days' work, harrowing, at $2, 

Cost harvesting Oi acres, at $ 1 50 per acre. 

Cost threshing 228 bushels, at 8 c.,. 

To carting the same to market, at 2 c, 

Total cost, 



1853. 
By dh acres, 24 bushels per acre, 228 bushels, at $1, 
Cost, 



Dr. 
$10 00 
14 25 

$1 00 

6 00 

14 25 

18 24 

4 56 



$68 30 


Cr. 

$228 00 
68 30 



Net profits, . $159 70 

Cost per acre, . . .... . $7 20 

Net profits per acre, 16 81 



1852. 
Sept. 



1853. 
Julyl. 



60 

Two and a quarter Acres of Winter Rye, 



To ploughing 1 day, $2, . 
To 4 bushels seed, 50 c, . 
To sowing and harrowing, one day, 



To hars-esting the same, . 

To threshing 50 bushels rye, at 8 c. 

To carting the same to market, at 2 c, 



Dr. 




$2 


00 


2 


00 


2 


00 


3 


75 


4 00 


1 


00 



Total cost, 



1853. 



$14 75 



By 2i acres, 22 bushels and 7 qts. per acre, 50 bushels, at 50 c. 
Cost, 



Cr. 

$25 00 
14 75 



Net profits, $10 25 



1853. 
April. 



Cost per acre, 

Net profits per acre, . . . . , 

Five and a half Acres of Barley. 

To 2h days' ploughing, at $2, . • . 
To 12 bushels seed, at 40 c, . 
To 1 day's work, sowmg same. 
To 1^ days' work, haiTowing, $2, 
To harvesting 5^ acres, at $1 50, . 
To carting 182 bushels to market, at 2 c, 
Threshing the same, at 8 c, . 



$6 56 
4 55 



Total cost, 



1853. 



By 5i acres, 33 bushels 3 qts. per acre, 182 bushels, at 40 c, 
Cost, 



Dr. 

$5 00 
4 80 
1 00 
3 00 
8 25 
3 64 

14 56 

$40 25 

Cr. 

$72 80 
40 25 



Net profits, ■ $32 55 

Cost per acre, $7 32 

Net profits per acre, 5 92 



Twenty-eight and a half Acres Corn. 
One half of this was fall ])loughed, the balance Timothy sod, broke May 1st, 
1853, 7 inches deep. Cost of tending, about the same as fall ploughing. 

Dr. 
To 28^ acres ploughing, at $1 per acre, . . . . ' . . $28 50 

To 5 days' harrowing, at $2, 10 00 

To 4 bushels seed com, 75 c, 3 00 



61 

To 9^ clays' planting, 7s., 8 31 

To 2G days' cultivating corn, $1 18, 30 50 

To 12 days' hoeing, 88 c, 10 56 

To 57 days' husking, §1, 57 00 

Shelling and marketing 1710 bushels, at 4 c, 68 40 



Total cost, $216 2 



Cr. 
By 28i acres, 60 bushels per acre, 1710 bushels, at 50 c, . . $855 00 
Cost, 216 27 

^^et profits, $638 73 

Cost per acre, $7 59 

Net profits per acre, 22 41 

One Acre Potatoes. 

1853. Dr. 

To cost of raising, . $10 00 

Or. 
By 150 bushels potatoes, 25 c, $37 50 

Net profits, * $27 50 

One hundred and three Sheep. Dr. 

To cutting and stacking 25 tons hay, at $1, $25 00 

To feeding 30 bushels com, 50 c, 15 00 

To feeding and salt, 10 00 

To washing and sheaiing sheep, and marketing wool, . . . 10 00 

Total cost, $60 00 

Cr. 
By 103 fleeces, average 3 lbs. 10 oz., 373 lbs., at 46 c, . . . $171 58 
By 53 lambs, $1 25, 66 25 

$237 83 
Cost, 60 00 

Net profits, ^. . . $177 83 

Fifteen Head of Cattle and one Colt. 

Dr. 

To cost keeping to hay, $24 00 

To 25 bushels com feed, 50 c, 12 50 

To labor and salt, 10 50 

Total cost $47 00 



62 



Cr. 

By growth on cattle and colt, $150 00 

Cost, 47 00 

Net profits, $103 00 



Dr. To fatting one sow and four pigs, 80 bushels corn, at 50 c, 
Cr. By 1500 lbs. of pork, at 5 c. per lb., . . . . 



Net profits, 



25 bushels apples, $1 • . ■ $25 00 



8 bushels peaches, $1, 
5 swarms bees, $5, 
50 lbs. honey, 12^ c, . 
24 turkeys, 50 c, . 
60 chickens, 12^ c. 

Cost of keei)ing the above, 



40 


00 


75 


00 


$35 


00 


$25 00 


8 


00 


25 


00 


6 


25 


12 


00 


7 


50 


$83 


75 


10 


00 



Net profits, $73 75 



Twenty-one Acres Timothy Seed. 
Dr. To harvesting, threshing, and cleaning, 
Cr. By 84 bushels, at $2 per bushel, 



Net profits, 



23 acres of wheat, 

174 acres wheat, 

9h acres sjn-ing wheat, 

2i acres rye, 

5i acres barley. 

12 acres oats, 

28i acres corU; 

1 acre potatoes 

103 sheep. 

Cattle and colt, 

Porfv, . 

Apples, Peaches, Bees, Turkey: 
21 acres Timothy seed, . 

Total, .... 



Recapitulation. 



, &c, 



Cost of growing. 
$202 50 

104 80 
68 30 
14 75 
40 25 
88 00 

216 27 
10 00 
60 00 
47 00 
40 00 
10 00 
45 00 



$45 GO 
168 00 

$123 00 

Net proBts. 

$453 00 

278 50 

159 70 

10 25 

32 55 

174 50 

638 73 

27 50 

177 83 

103 00 

35 00 

73 75 

123 00 



$946 87 $2,287 31 



Number of acres, 240. Paying an interest on the whole fann of 240 acres, at 
a valuation of $158 88 per acre, at 6 per ct. 

WM. P. WEST, Batavia, Rlinois. 



63 



EXTRACTS FROM *'A GLANCE AT ILLINOIS." 

Published by A. Campbell, Esq., La Salle, 111. 



CLDIATE. 

The climate of this portion of the AYestem Country is ratlier milder 
than in the same latitudes upon the Atlantic slopes ; the winters being 
somewhat less severe, and the autumns rather longer. The rivers, as 
far north as the 41st parallel of latitude, usually open as early as the 
loth of February to the 1st of Marcli, and do not close before the 15th 
to the 20th of Decembei*. In fact, we sometimes have boats running 
every month in the year. 

It is well adapted to the cultivation of all the different grains and 
grasses, apples, peaches, and every other kind of fruit raised in tliis 
latitude ; as fruit and other trees grow with great rapidity and luxuri- 
ance upon our rich prairie soil. The grape is successfully cultivated in 
the southern part of the State, and native wine is made there to some 
extent. 

HEALTH. 

In point of health, the State .of Illinois will compare favorably with 
any other of equal fertility in the Union. For, although some portions, 
in the vicinity of low grounds and river bottoms, are occasionally subjected 
to epidemics of fever and ague in the autumn, there exists upon the open 
prairie no local cause of disease. Li the first settlement of Illinois, the 
opinion prevailed that the prairies wei'e uninhabitable ; and, consequent- 
ly, the immigi'ants settled in the groves, and along the banks of streams, 
where the greatest sources of unhealthiness — if there were any — 
existed. Moreover, they usually arrived in the country Avorn out and 
dispirited, from long journeys in loaded carts and wagons, encamping at 
night on the Avay in heavy dews and storms, suffering for weeks every 
form of unaccustomed privation and exposure ; or, after tedious voyages, 
crowded into what is called the " steerage " of wretched steamboats, 
where all manner of discomfort was suffered, from exposure to wet and 
cold, bad water and bad provisions — the latter often in insufficient 
quantity. And, after arriving at their destinations, they were scarcely 
better off; being crowded in large numbers into such small log cabins or 
huts as the exigencies of their condition would allow of being tempora- 
rily provided ; drinking bad Avater from the " sloughs," and even suf- 
fei'ing for long periods from improper and insufficient food, Avhereby 
pernicious fevei's and many other fearful diseases were endangered — 
diseases which at that time were erroneously attributed, not to their true 
source, but to causes supposed to exist in the climate. 



64 

But since the construction of railroads into and through every part of 
the State ; since the settlements have been more generally made upon 
the open, rolling prairies ; since the people have been able to provide 
themselves readily with good habitations, and other comforts and con- 
veniences, and are exempted from the inevitable hardships of pioneer 
life, Illinois will compare favorably with any other portion of our com- 
mon country, of like fertility. An abundance of the best water can be 
reached at from 15 to 30 feet below the surface on our prairies ; and no 
cause of disease is traceable to this source, except where it has been, as 
in some cases, habitually used from " sloughs " and stagnant streams. I 
am also informed by the most respectable physicians, that Consumption, 
that fearful scourge of the human race, is not a disease of this climate ; 
Avhere it occurs here, it being almost universally in those who have 
brought it with them, or in whom it is in a marked degree hereditary. 
It is also a curious fact, that persons suffering from asthma, or " phthisic," 
have been greatly relieved, or, in some instances, permanently cured, by 
a residence in this climate. 

SOIL. 

As to the character of the soil of our prairie lands, there is very little 
dissimilarity in it, from the valley of the Wabash to the Missouri River. 
It is generally a dai'k, rich, sandy loam, from 18 to 30 inches in depth. 
The surface, for the most part, is gently undulating, though some por- 
tions are moi'e rolling, and less desirable for farming purposes. Where 
the surface is very broken, the land, when brought under cultivation, is 
subject to Avash into the low grounds and streams. High ground thus 
becomes, by the removal of the soil, quite barren in a few years. A 
small portion of the lands have the opposite objection of being more 
level than is desirable. Where this is the case, the water does not di'ain 
off, and the crop is injured. Those lands are to be preferred which are 
just sufficiently undulating for thorough drainage ; though it is desira- 
ble to have about one fourth of a farm wet enough for good meadow or 
grass land. 

As to the matter of bringing these lands under cultivation, it may be 
well to state, for the benefit of those unacquainted, that it is usual to 
commence breaking the sward about the first of May ; and to continue 
until about the middle of July. It is customary to plant corn upon all 
that is broken up before the first of June. The corn planted in this 
manner, — sod corn, as it is called — requires no working, and yields 
from 20 to 30 bushels per acre. What is broken after the first of June, 
is generally sown with winter wheat, or left until the following spring, 
when it is in good condition for any kind of spring crop. The winter 



65 

wheat is put in with tlie drill, or by harrowing, without second plough- 
ing, and is usually as productive as any other crop. 

Eastern people have doubtless heard that heavy teams of from 4 to 
6 yoke of cattle are required for the first breaking up of prairie. But 
this is only necessary where the large plough is used, which cuts a fur- 
row of from 24 to 30 inches. A span of good horses, however, with a 
plough which turns a ten inch furrow, will easily break an acre and a 
quarter a day. 

After these lands are once brought under cultivation, two good farm 
hands, Avith two span of gdod horses, can attend 70 acres of corn, and 
30 acres of wheat, with the help of a hand or two during corn planting 
and Avheat harvest ; a large amount of the labor upon the farm, such as 
mowing, reaping, and threshing, being done by machinery. Corn is now 
mostly planted with the drill, and requires no other working than what 
is done with the plough or cultivator. As our winters are usually mild, 
there being but little snow, and the corn suffering no damage by remain- 
ing in the field, it can be harvested at the farmer's convenience, at any 
time during the fall or winter. And the cost of any extra hire, beyond 
the two hands before mentioned, need not exceed $100 for 100 acres. 

We cannot expect to find, in any country, numerous and great advan- 
tages, without some deficiencies. Nature operates by compensations; 
and where she has been munificent in many gifts, there are always some 
which she seems to have withholden. Prominent among the latter, in 
Illinois, and that which has constituted the greatest objection to the 
State, in the minds of many, is the scarcity of timber. But here, again, 
art has abundantly triumphed, and turned seeming disadvantages to val- 
uable accoilnt. For, with so many and so easy means of transporta- 
tion, by navigation upon lakes, rivers, canals, and by our numerous rail- 
roads, timber and fuel can be furnished to all parts of the State, at about 
as easy rates as in any other portion of the country. 

Thei-e are immense forests of the choicest pine and other timbers on 
the borders of our great lakes, enormous quantities of which are manu- 
factured into lumber of every description, and shipped to Chicago, from 
whence it is distributed to every part of the State, by means of the 
canal and the numerous railroads diverging from that city. The freights 
from the diflferent points of supply on the lakes to Chicago, range from 
$1 50 to $3 per thousand feet. The usual tariff upon our railroads is 
about $3 per thousand feet per 100 miles. There are also large bodies 
of pine and other timber upon the tributaries of the Upper Mississippi 
River, in Wisconsin and JNIinnesota, which is likewise manufactured and 
floated down that stream to all points on our western border, from Avhence 
it is carried into all parts of the interior by railroad. 
9 



66 

A large portion of Southern Illinois is covered with a heavy growth 
of valuable timber, and, already, there are numerous saw mills in opera- 
tion, and others being constructed, along the line of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, by which avenue it is carried north to the interior. On the 
east are the extensive forests of Indiana and Southern Michigan, which 
are rendered accessible by the several railroads passing through them. 

Besides which, there are also valuable bodies of timber along the 
numerous watercourses, and large groves interspersed over the praii'ies 
throughout the interior of the State. Although this timber is not so well 
suited to the manufacture of lumber, it is yet valuable for fencing and 
fuel. 

COAL. 

■ As if Nature had anticipated the inconvenience to which the inhab- 
itants of the prairies would be subjected by the scarcity of timber for 
fuel, she provided as a compensation for that deficiency, long before- 
hand, by carefully storing beneath their surface an almost unlimited sup- 
ply of excellent mineral or stone coal. Nearly the entire State is under- 
laid with it, south of a line running west from the southern extremity of 
Lake Michigan. It is found at a short distance below the surface, and 
crops out upon the banks of most of the streams in that part of the 
State. 

This article, which must ultimately become a soui'ce of vast wealth to 
this region of country, is already attracting the attention of capitalists ; 
and mining is being carried on extensively along the line of the canal, 
rivers, and railroads, in different parts of the State. 

Mining is largely done on the line of the Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy Railroad, in the Counties of Stark and Knox, by means of 
shafts sunk in the prairie, immediately on the line of the road; al.-o on 
the line of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, in the Counties of 
Grundy, La Salle, Bureau, and Rock Island. Extensive works are in 
operation at the City of Rock Island, where a large amount is mined 
from the outcrop of the veins in that vicinity. 

At La Salle, all three of the beds are worked by means of "■ drifts." 
There are some 12 to 15 openings on the banks of the canal, and in the 
valley of the Little Vermihon and contiguous ravines. Besides supply- 
ing the cities of La Salle and Peru, it is shipped in large quantities, to 
all points on the Galena Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, as far 
north as Dunleith, on the Mississippi River. The demand for it here 
has already become so great that, notwithstanding the very high price of 
S3 50 per ton is demanded for it, delivered upon the railroad cars, even 
double the amount which is now taken out would meet -with ready sale at 



67 

that price. Several shafts are now being sunk, Avith a view to mining 
on a much larger scale, by means of stationary engines ; and before the 
close of another year, the quantity supplied will amount to thousands of 
tons, where it is now only hundreds.- 

Mining is also done at various points on the Big Vermilion, on the 
south side of the Illinois River, and the coal is carried to the neighbor- 
ing stations on the Central Railroad by wagon. 

In view of the extent of these mines, and their advantageous position 
with reference to shipments, as Avell as the good quality of the coal, we 
think this locality well worthy the attention of all who may desire to 
invest' capital, or engage in any manner in the business of coal mining. 

Coal is also found in the bluffs of the Illinois River, from La Salle to 
near its mouth, at several points on which mining operations are largely 
carried on. The most prominent of these works are at Peoria, Pekin, 
and Kingston. 

There are also extensive and valuable mines on the line of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad, in the southern part of the State. Those at Du 
Quoin and De Soto are yielding an abundance, of good quality. 

Examinations by boring have been made, and coal discovered, at 
various other points on the line of this road farther north, as well as 
upon the line of the Chicago, Alton and St. Louis Railroad. 

The deposit at Danville, in Vermilion County, is of great extent and 
good quality. The Great Western Railroad, which passes through 
Danville, crosses this field from east to west. The Chicago and Dan- 
ville Coal Mining Company have made arrangements for working these 
mines extensively, Avith a A'icAV to supplying the country along the line 
of the Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central RaJroad, as aa'cII as the 
Chicago market. 

The Geological Survey, noAV going on in the State, under the direction 
of Dr. NorAvood, State Geologist, shoAvs also that the supply throughout 
that portion of the Stale above mentioned is almost Avithout limit, prom- 
ising a future to Illinois of untold wealth and greatness ; as Ave not 
only liaA'C an abundance for domestic and manufacturing purposes for 
ourseh'cs, but also for our friends of Wisconsin, and other neighboring 
States, Avhich may be destitute. 

Thus, AA'ith the abundant means we enjoy for supplying our demands 
for lumber, with the immense beds of coal beneath our feet for fuel, 
and Avith the facilities offered by our lake, rivers, canal, and I'ailroads, for 
distributing these to every part of the State, from the ports and stations 
upon AA-hich the farmer, Avhen marketing his produce, can return Avith his 
supplies of these needful commodities, Avithout loss of time, and Avith but 
little inconvenience, the broad prairies, Avhich have heretofore consti- 



68 

tutecl the greatest objection to this country in the minds of superficial 
observers, prove to be a source of the highest advantage to the State. 
The lands being at once ready for the plough, a good farm can be opened 
in one, or, at most, two years ; whereas, in a heavily timbered country, it 
requires a lifetime of toil to accomplish a result no greater. 

Before the construction of railroads through the interior of the State, 
the only avenues to market Avere by the Lake and the Illinois and Mis- 
sissippi Rivers. This circumstance had the effect of directing the first 
settlers more particularly to the borders of these streams, and to the 
vicinity of the Lakes ; so that the narrow tract of country between 
them and the northern and western part of the State came to be first 
occupied ; leaving that large and fertile portion south and east of the 
Illinois — except along its border — comparatively uninhabited ; there 
being no means of reaching markets from there, except by wagons. 

But this region is now traversed by the Illinois Central Railroad, the 
Chicago Branch of the same, and by the Chicago, Alton and St. Louis 
Railroad, from north to south, as well as by several others from east to 
west. And if its advantages in respect to markets were, in days past, of 
the most meagre description, they have now become of the best ; as 
there are equal facilities existing here for reaching Chicago or St. Louis 
with any other part of the State ; besides which, the Illinois Central 
Railroad affords an outlet to the mouth of the Ohio, at Cairo ; below 
which the navigation of the Mississippi is very rarely, if ever, obstructed 
by ice or low water. Thus giving command of the Southern market 
throughout the year. 

Notwithstanding these advantages, lands are still comparatively cheap 
in this section of the State, on account of the large tracts thus at once 
made available, and brought into market, by the construction of these 
roads. Although scarcely two years have elapsed since the opening of 
these roads, this region of country, so recently a comparative wilderness, 
is rapidly settling ; villages are springing up at all the different stations, 
with their schools, churches, and other social privileges and improve- 
ments. 

The following is the result of the late census in a few of the most 
interior counties, showing their population in 1850 and 1855, increase, 
and per cent. 





1850. 


1855. 


Increase. 


Per cent. 


McLean, 


10,163 


19,578 


9.415 


92f 


De Witt, 


5,002 


8,508 


3,506 


70^ 


Macon, 


3,988 


8,365 


4,377 


109f 


Piatt, 


1,606 


3,053 


1,446 


90 


Champaign, 


2,649 


6.566 


3,917 


148 


LiAingston, 


1,552 


4,606 


3,054 


196| 



69 

Much the largest portion of this increase has accrued Avithin the last 
two years ; wliich is to be attributed mainly to the opening of the rail- 
roads through this formerly remote district. 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD LANDS. 

In addition to the great opportunities now offered for purchasing lands 
of private individuals in this district, the most favorable inducements 
are afforded to settlers with small means, by the Illinois Central Rail- 
road Company. This Company received from the State, to aid in the 
construction of their road, an amount of land equal to the alternate sec- 
tions, for six miles on each side of the line of the road and its branches. 
To make up for any that might have been sold of the sections, in the 
order prescribed, — before the General Government made the grant to 
the State, — the Company were allowed the privilege of extending their 
claim to fifteen miles on either side, so far as might be necessary to make 
up the deficiency.* As the lands in the northern part of the State had 
been, previously, almost entirely taken up, by far the larger portion of 
the selections were necessarily made on that part of the main trunk 
between La Salle and Cairo ; and the Chicago branch betAveen Chicago 
and Centralia. 

And this vast tract is now thrown open for sale by the Company, to 
settlers onhj, on the most convenient terms. The prices range from five 
to twenty-five dollars per acre, according to quality and distance from 
stations ; the latter price being for those having a prospective value, on 
account of proximity to important villages, or mineral deposits. 

The terms of payment are as follows, viz. : 1st. Two years' interest 
in advance on the amount of the purchase money, at the rate of 3 per 
cent, per annum. 2d. At the end of two years, one fifth of the pur- 
chase money, with one year's interest in advance on the balance, at the 
same rate. 3d. At the end of the third year, another fifth of the origi- 
nal price, with one year's interest in advance, on the residue ; and so on, 
until the whole is paid. 

Now, although these prices may seem high, when compared with that 
of lands at the Government price of $1 25 per acre, let us see how they 
will compare, when purchased by the farmer, who wants them for actual 
cultivation, with those at from 200 to 300 miles forther distant from 
markets, at the Government rates : Suppose we take a form of 1 GO 
acres, 100 miles from Chicago, on the line of this road or its branches ; 

* In consideration of this grant, the Illinois Central Railroad Company is obligated to 
pay to the State 7 per cent, of the gross earnings of the road, forever. It is estimated 
that this will become a source of revenue to the State of $-250,000 annually. 



70 

in order to secure a choice tract, and to be within such a distance from a 
station that tlie farmer, when marketing his produce or receiving his sup- 
plies, can make conveniently two trips a day; put the price at $12 50 
per acre — which amount will secure such a location — say $2000 00 

First payment of 2 years' interest in advance, at the rate of 

3 per cent, per annum, ....... 120 00 

Second payment, at the end of 2 years, vith one fifth of tlie 

purchase money, $4G0 00 

One year's interest on the balance, . . . . 48 00 — 448 00 

Third payment, at the end of 3 years ; one fifth of purchase 

money, $400 00 

And 3 per cent, in advance on the bakmce still rcmaiuing, 36 00 — 436 00 

Fom-th payment, at the end of 4 years ; one fifth of the pur- 
chase money, $400 00 

One year's interest on the balance, . . . . 24 00 — 424 00 

Fifth payment, at the end of 5 jears ; one fifth of purchase 

money, $400 00 

One year's interest on the balance, .... 12 OO — 412 00 

Sixth, and last payment, at the end of 6 years ; being one 

fifth of the original amount of purchase money, . . . • 400 00 



Total, ■ . $2,240 00 

If we take a farm of IGO acres in the vicinity of Fort Des Moines, in 
Iowa, at $1 25 pdr acre for a second locality, the cost would be but 
$200 00. 

Now, if the lands in each locality were appropriated exclusively to the 
raising of grain, the result would be thus : All that could be done the 
first 3'ear would be the breaking of 100 acres of ground, raising the 
vegetables for the family, and the crop of sod corn — which would pro- 
vide amply for the stock — and the sowing of 30 acres of fall wheat ; 
together with making necessary fences, and other ai'rangcments incident 
to a beginning; then, the second spring, there would be 70 acres planted 
with corn, which in the fall would produce '3500 bushels. And the 30 
acres of Avheat would produce GOO bushels. If you retain 900 bushels 
corn for stock, and fattening animals for family use, you would have for 
market, at the end of the second year, 400 bushels of wheat, 2 GOO bush- 
els of corn ; total, 3000 bushels of grain for market ; the transportation 
of which from the locality in the vicinity of Fort Des Moines, in Iowa, 
367 miles west of Chicago, would cost, at 29 cents per bushel, $870 00 ; 
whilst the transportation on the same amount from a point 100 miles 
from Chicago, would be but $240 00 ; which shows a diflfercnce in 
favor of the latter, annually, of $630 00. From which deduct the 



71 

amount of first pajaiient, at the end of the second year, on the farm 100 
miles distant from Chicago, $448 00, leaving $182 00, which would be 
the balance in favor of the latter over the former, after making the pay- 
ment at the end of the second year. 

At the end of the third year, the amount of products would be the 
same, viz. : 2600 bushels of corn, and 400 bushels of wheat, — in all. 
3000 bushels ; the cost of transportation of which from Fort Des Moines 
to Chicago, would be, as before, $870 00. While the cost of the same 
amount from the point 100 miles from Chicago, would be but $240 00, 
showing a balance still in favor of the latter over the former of $G30 00. 
From which deduct the third payment, $436 00, and you have in favor 
of the Illinois farm, at the end of the third year, after making the third 
payment, $194 00. And so on, until the end of the sixth year, when 
the farmer will have saved the sum of $1110 00, after paying for the 
land at the rate of $12 50 per acre, by selecting his farm 100 miles 
from Chicago, in preference to one at Fort Des Moines. 

This is the amount saved, without taking into account the greater 
value of the land at the end of that period, by being in nearer proximity 
to market. Now, the difference, annually, in the value of the crop upon 
the farm within 100 miles of Chicago, over that at Fort Des Moines, is 
$630 00, which is the interest, at 6 per cent., upon $10,500 00 ; or 
equal to $65 G2^ per acre, on a farm of 160 acres. 

To demonstrate the foregoing : — The cost of a farm of 160 acres, 
near Fort Des Moines, at the Government price of $1 25 per 
acre, is $200 GO 

Cost of transporting its products to Chicago, on Lake Michigan, as 
given above, would be, annually, .... $870 00 

This, for 5 years, would amount to ..... . 4,350 00 



And j'ou have, as the cost of the farm, and marketing its products at 

Chicago, for 5 years, $4,550 00 

Whilst the farm witliin 100 miles of Chicago, on the line of the Cen- 
tral Raih'oad, or its branches, at $12 50 per acre, with the interest 
thereon, would amount to ....... . 2,240 00 

The cost of carrying its products to Chicago, would be at the same 

rates, annually, but $240 00 

Wliich, in 5 years, would amount to . . . . . . 1,200 00 



And you have, as the total cost of the farm, and expenses of market- 
ing at Chicago, for 5 years, $3,440 00 

Showing a gain in 5 years, after paying for the land, at $12 50 per 
acre, in favor of the farm within 100 miles of Chicago, over the 
one at Fort Des Moines, at $1 25 per acre, of . . . . 1,110 00 

Besides Avhich, it must be borne in mind that the Central Railroad 



72 

lands are not subject to taxation until the end of the sixth year, Avhen 
the final paj'ment is to be made. 

The question might arise, whether a farmer, purchasing a farm of the 
Central Eailroad Company, upon the^ terms they propose, would be likely 
to realize enough from his crops to make his payments and maintain his 
family. Of this there would seem to be no reasonable doubt ; for, if 
wheat will bring but $1 20 in New York, it would net him 90 cents at 
home, allowing him 27 cents per bushel for freights, and o cents a 
bushel for the incidental expenses of marketing. And after deductino- 
for freight and other charges, allow 10 per cent, to the grain buyer, and 
he would still have 81 cents, as the return for his wheat. We Avill sup- 
pose corn to bring 70 cents in New York ; then deduct 30 cents for 
freight and other charges, and 10 per cent, for the grain dealer, and he 
would have oG cents for his corn at the railroad station. Thus : — 

400 bushels wheat, at 81 cents, $324 00 

2600 bushels com, at 36 cents, 936 00 



Total, $1,260 00 

From which deduct the liire of one hand diu'ing the year, 

and another for six months, $300 00 

To which add the fii-st payment on the lands, as before stated, 44S 00 



Total, $748 00 



This deducted from the receipts for crops, would leave a 

balance in his hands, annually, of $512 00 

In the calculations upon which this is based, we have reserved 200 
bushels of wheat, — an amount c^uite large enough for bread and seed, 
— and 900 bushels of corn for working stock and fattening animals for 
family use. This reservation of corn contemplates not only a provision 
for a reasonable number of working and fatting animals, but also for the 
natural increase of the stock. The avails of which increase, with but- 
ter, cheese, poultry, eggs, &c., — which command high prices in this 
country, — together Avith potatoes and other vegetables, easily raised 
from the lands reserved for that purpose, will be amply sufficient to de- 
fray all reasonable current expenses of the family. 

It will be recollected, that this is based upon the supposition that the 
labor upon the farm is hired, except that of one man. But if a farmer 
have boys from 14 to IG years of age, these will be of as much service 
in ploughing and other light work suited to their strength, as men ; and 
in that case, the necessity of hiring will be obviated. 

At the end of the 6th year, the stock on the farm of 1 GO acres would 
be worth at least as much as in the commencement. And if one half 



73 i- 

the amount which could be annually saved, after making payments on 
land and providing for family, were invested in im})rovemen\3 on the 
farm, it would certainly then be worth from $8U0U to $10,t|00, sur- 
rounded as it would then be with a good neighborhood, improval social 
advantages, and various resources for rational enjoyment. 

COST OF OPENING FARM. 

The inquiry is often made as to the amount of means requisite\ for 
opening a farm in Illinois. It must be apparent that this will depend 
upon the size, the conveniences and comforts provided, and the plan of 
farming adopted. 

It may be first remarked, in addition to what has already been statecl, 
that good clay for brick is found in almost all localities here, by removing 
the prairie soil ; wdiile in and around the groves it is found upon the 
surface. So that biuck can be obtained about as cheaply as in any other 
part of the country. There is, also, as has been said, good limestone 
rock, in abundance, in the banks of nearly all the streams, which is 
easily quarried, and the cost of such material is moderate. So that with 
our railroad facilities for transporting lumber, and the materials w^e have 
ah'eady here, building can be done nearly as cheaply as in the Eastern 
States. It is most usual, however, — being generally the most conven- 
ient, — for settlers to erect for themselves framed houses, which can be 
built at about the following rates : — 

A house 14 feet by 26, one story high, plainly and comfortably fin- 
ished, divided into two rooms, plastered and painted, can bo built for 
from $225 to $250, which is about the cheapest kind of a house which 
can be furnished, that will comfortably accommodate a small family ; 
though one a story and a half high, 16 by 28 feet, divided into three 
rooms above and two below, with pantry, plastered and painted through- 
out, ready for use, would cost about $400 to $425. Tliere are parties 
who are willing to contract to furnish all materials, and fully complete 
houses of this description, at the prices named, in from 4 to 6 weeks. 
And houses of larger dimensions, at proportionate rates and length 
of time. 

The digging and stoning of a well, in ordinary situations, will cost 
from $20 to $30. It will require about $100 to erect the necessary 
sheds and stables for cattle and horses. Hay and grain are usually 
stacked out, and are as well preserved as if housed. Good cows can be 
bought for about $30. A yoke of good working oxen is worth from $80 
to $100. Good farm horses are worth from $100 to $125. Harness 
costs about the same as elsewhere. A proper kind of breaking plough 
10 



74 

costs $16. Common ploughs, $8 to $10 each. A reaping machine costs 
about $375, and the same machine may be readily adajited to mowing. 
Threshing machines can be bought at from $175 to $300. 

It is customary for a number of farmers to join together in purchasing 
these expensive implements, and to work them in common, in cutting 
and t]?reshing their several crops of wheat and oats ; as well as for cut- 
ting their hay. Other necessary farming utensils are procured at prices 
about the same as in the East. 

The cost of fencing will of course depend upon the amount. The 
usual mode employed is Avith boards, until the hedge is grown. Two 
boards will generally answer against cattle, — hogs not being allowed to 
run at large. As it is customary, in many places u})on our large prai- 
ries, for farmers, by common consent, to enclose all their stock for the 
first few years, — a few acres only being required for this purpose, — but 
a Yerj small amount of fencing is necessary, imtil the farmer can either 
raise his hedge, or at least have grain for market, when he can get his 
lumber for fencing at the railroad stations, with but little loss of time or 
inconvenience. 

If 160 acres of ground be taken u]^ and farmed after the manner 
heretofore described, a house of the larger size would be required ; 
4 hoi'ses ; 2 breaking ploughs ; 2 common ploughs ; 2 cultivators, and 2 
harroAvs ; and other farming utensils in the same proportion. But if 
only 80 acres wei'e farmed, a house of the smaller size would answer, 
but one span of horses, and other stock and farming implements in pro- 
portion. 

The foregoing statements touching the subject of farming, have been 
made with strict reference to facts which have presented themselves to 
my mind, Avith abundant opportunities for observation, during five years 
past. Tlie majority of our most judicious and industrious farmei's w^ould 
doubtless consider the estimates of profits given as quite too low. But 
the object has been to shoAV Avhat are the average reliable results, taking 
one year Avith another, under ordinary circumstances — not merely to 
give the limit of possibilities. 

In showing the relati\-e value of lands, I have compared Avestern 
lands Avitli Avestern lands only ; but if Ave Avere to place these in compe- 
tition Avith those of the Eastern States, the preponderance Avould still be 
in faA'or of Avestern lands generally, for farming purposes. For Avhen 
Ave take into account the ease and cheapness of cultiA'ation, — no manure 
and a comparatively small amount of labor being required, — these 
qualities more than compensate for any extra cost of transportation. 



75 



POPULATION. 

I had intended, in the beginning of this, to give some statistics of pop- 
ulation in the State ; the increase of agricultural productions, and of the 
growth of our cities and villages, which have arisen here within the last 
few years, as if by enchantment. But having already for exceeded the 
limits I had first prescribed for myself, I can only add, in conclusion, a 
few words in reference to population. 

The population of the State in June, 1850, was . . . 851,470 

By the census tak^n July 1, 1855, it was sho\\7i to be . . 1,300,200 

Increase in five years, 448,7.'jO 

This shows the annual average increase to have been . . 89,746 

But as there was a large emigration to California and other parts of 
the country west, during the year ending July 1, 1851, whilst the immi- 
gration during the same period was small, the increase during that year 
could not have exceeded 40,000. 

For the year ending July I, 1852, as the emigration had somewhat 
diminished and the immigration had increased, it would be safe to place 
the gain during that year at 50,000. 

During the year ending July 1, 1853, the emigration had still further 
diminished, whilst the immigration had exceeded that of any previous 
year ; and the increase for that year would not probably vary much from 
75,000. 

During the year ending July 1, 1854, the only emigration from the 
State was from the central and southern portions into the adjoining 
States ; and as the railroads had then fairly begun to open the whole 
interior to market, — Avhich tended greatly to increase immigration, — I 
think the increase that year could not have been less than 112,000. 

During the year ending July 1, 1855, the emigration had nearly 
ceased ; and the railroads having reached almost every part of the in- 
terior, while there was a still larger influx of immigrants, the increase 
reached 16G,74G. 

During the current year, ending July 1, 185G, as all portions of the 
State are now opened to market, and the emigration having almost entire- 
ly ceased, we are safe in setting down the hicrease this year at 200,000. 

And from the vast purchases of land by those who contemplate re- 
moving hither the coming season, the accessibility of every part of the 
State, and the tide of population now fairly flowing in this direction, I 
can see nothing to prevent a continuance of this increase for the next 
four years. In which case, there will be a population in the State, in 
18G0, of two millions and three hundred thousand. 

A. CAMPBELL. 

La Salle, February 1, 1856. 



76 



ILLINOIS WHEAT IN THE LONDON MAEXET. 

VERDICT OF A CORN FACTOR. 

Last season the Illinois Central Railroad Company caused to be sent to the London 
Corn Exchange a number of varieties of Illinois wheat, grown in different portions of the 
State. The samples were submitted to Mr. J. Exeley, an experienced corn factor, whose 
report we now present to our readers : — 

KEPORT OF MR. J. EXELEY OX SAIilPLES OF ILLIXOIS WHEAT EECEI^'ED FE02VI 
THE ILLIXOIS CEXTEAL RAILROAD COMP.IXY. 

No. 1. Winter Red Chaff, La Salle County — A nice quality, but not of great strength 
in flour — now worth in Mark Lane 73 s. per quarter, imperial — will weigh about 62 lbs. 
per bushel. 

No. 2. Union County — A splendid sample of red — will weigh in every opinion fully 
65 lbs. per imperial bushel — would command 70 s. per quarter if here now. Its berry is 
about the size of English " Nursery Red " — much approved by the town millers. 

No. 3. White Winter Wheat, Union County — Resembles our " Chidliam " — worth 
74 s. per imperial quarter — weighs about 62 lbs. per bushel. 

No. 4. White Winter, Blue Stem, Perry County — A very fine and strong quality — 
fully Go lbs. — worth 74 s. per imperial qiuirtcr. 

No. 0. Red Winter Wheat, Mediterranean, Perrj' County — Strong and heavy — 64 
lbs. per bushel — such as we get from Leghorn — worth GS s. per imperial quarter. 

No. 6. Red Winter Wheat, Velvet Chaff, Perry County — Prime, worth 68 s. per impe- 
rial quarter — will weigh 63 lbs. 

No. 7. White Winter Wheat, Perry County — 63 lbs. per bushel — worth 74 s. per 
imperial quarter — fine and salable. 

No. 8. Spring Wheat, Perry County — good 63 lbs. — worth 6G s. per imperial quarter. 

No. 9. La Salle County — Fair quality — worth 65 s. per imperial quarter — 62 lbs. per 
bushel. 

No. 10. La Salle Comity — About 62 lbs. per bushel — worth 64 s. per imperial quarter. 

No. IL La Salle County, Red Spring — About 62 lbs. — worth 64 s. 

No. 12. McLean County — A nice quality — about 62 lbs. — worth 66 s. per imperial 
quarter. 

No. 13. ^McLean County — Wliite Winter Wheat — worth 74 s. per imperial quarter, 
prime — useful sample. 

No. 14. Iroquois County, White Winter — Very hea%7 — 64 lbs. per bushel — worth 
74 s. per imperial quarter. 

No. 15. Iroquois County, Prime Wheat — 64 lbs. per bushel — worth 74 s. per imperi- 
al quarter. 

No. 16. Iroquois County, Winter Wheat — 62 lbs. per imperial bushel — worth 72 s. 
per quarter. 

No. 17. Will County, Winter Wheat — Worth 74 s. per imperial quarter — weighs 
about 63 lbs. per imi)erial bushel. 

No. 18. Will County, Winter Wheat — 74 s. per imperial cjuarter — Aveighs 63 lbs. per 
imperial bushel. 

No. 19. DeWitt County, White Winter "\ATieat — 73 s. per quarter — weighs about 62 
lbs. per bushel. 

No. 20. Kankakee County, White Winter A\lieat — Worth 73 s. per quarter — about 
62 lbs per bushel. 

No. 21. Lee Coimty, Spring Red — About G4 lbs. per bushel — worth 68 s. per impe- 
rial quarter. 

No. 22. Marshall County, Fair ^Milte Wheat, Winter— About 62 lbs. per bushel- 
worth 72 s. per imperial quarter. 

No. 23. Union County, White Winter — About 63 lbs. — worth 73 s. per imperial 
quarter. 

No. 24. Macon Coimty — Fair quality — about 62 lbs. — worth 72 s per quarter. 

No. 25. Williamson County, Red Winter Wheat — 64 lbs. per imperial bushel — prime 
sample — worth 68 s. per quarter. 

N. B. All the samples are in the best condition, and cleanly dressed, in both respects 
better than the cargoes arrive, and the whole would bear the passage well, and no doubt 
come out in good order. I never saw a finer specimen of samples from the United States 
together. 

(Signed) J. EXELEY. 

November 27, 1856. 



AGEICULTUEAL RESOUECES OF ILLINOIS. 

CROP OF 18.55. 

Much as we have said from time to time upon the wonderful agricultural resources of 
our State, we are convinced, nevertheless, that they are appreciated by hut very few of our 
citizens, while abroad there is nothing like a correct conception of their magnitude and 
extent. Some go back to the census of returns of 1850, and base their opinions of the 
capacity of IlUnois u])on tlio figures there given, as if they furnished a fair criterion by 
whicli to judge. They forget, or perhaps have never learned, that since those statistics 
were made up, nearly twenty-tive lumdrcd miles of railroad have been built in the State ; 
that its population has increased from 851,470 to nearly 1,500,000 ; that the muuber of 
acres under cultivation now is more than double that of 1850 ; that all the more recent im- 
provements in the various processes of agriculture have come into general use ; and that 
production has been further stimulated "by the increased faciUty for moving products to 
market, and by unprecedontcdly high prices. And they further forget that, with all this 
increased production, hardly one third of the arable lands of the State have been re- 
claimed from their natural condition. Without considering all these elements, any con- 
clusion drawn from the census of 1850 would be of the most fallacious character, and 
would fall far short of doing justice to our noble State. 

The building of railroads'in our State has led to a great deal of investigation respect- 
ing its undeveloped wealth of soil and minerals. Particularly have investigations of_ this 
character been set on foot through that vast portion of the State traversed by the Illinois 
Central Road. Prior to the construction of this great work, but little comparatively was 
known of the country which it has opened to cultivation. Remote from navigable water- 
courses, with neither natural nor artificial outlets to market, it was passed by almost im- 
noticed by the immigrant. For many long years it had been offered for sale at the min- 
imum price of public lands, {$1 25 per acre,) but with very rare exceptions, here and 
there, it remained a " drug " upon the hands of the Government. But with the construc- 
tion of the Illinois Central Railroad, the only condition unfavorable to its settlement 
passed away, and instantly upon that event, explorers commenced traversing it in all 
directions, enterprising settlers bought up the pubKc lands at double the minimum rate, 
the Company found willing purchasers for its immense possessions at a much greater 
price, and the " waste and solitary places " were speedily transformed into enterprising 
' communities that will already compare favorably in thrift and in the means of comfort 
with the earlier settled portions of the State. It was found that soils the richest, and a 
climate unusually exempt from the ordinary malaria of unsettled countries, marked the 
whole course of the road. Particularly were new facts brought to light respecting the 
middle and southern portions of the State, which hitherto had been as a sealed book to 
immigrants seeking a Western home by way of the Lake, and other northern routes. 
Yankee enterprise had but rarely planted itself in this portion of the State. It was igno- 
miniously designated "Egypt," and but very few from the Northern or Eastern States 
could be induced to explore the country and judge from personal inspection of the truth 
or falsity of the current statements respecting it. The day of this humiliation has passed 
forever from Southern Illinois. It continues to be styled "Egypt," indeed, but the des- 
ignation is no longer a reproach. The name has become honorable — suggestive of fruit- 
fulness and plenty. 

The reputation of Southern Illinois, as respects productive capacity, having been thus 
vindicated and established, and all that tract of country constituting the high table lands 
forming the divide between the waters flowing west into the Illinois and Mississippi, and 
those flowing east into the AV abash and Ohio, having been furnished with railroad facili- 
ties, the question as to the agricultural resources of our State becomes easy of solution. 
In all those ingredients of soil and concomitants of climate requisite to the most bounti- 
ful production of the cereals and grasses, in all of those conditions regarded as peculiarly 
favorable to the growth of stock, and particularly in topographical adaptation to the ap- 
plication of machinery in agricultural pursuits, Illinois may proudly challenge compari- 
son with the most favored of her sisters of the North-west or South-west. We have 
travelled through nearly every county in the State, we have conversed with the old pioneers 
who know every foot of the ground, we have had the opinion of survc)-ors and engineers, 
and from all that we can gather from our own observation and that of others, we hesitate 
not to say that at least eighty per cent, of the entire area of the State consists of first 
class arable land, and ninety per cent, of it is susceptible of profitable culture. The area 
of the State is 55,000 square miles. Eighty per cent, of that is 44,000 square miles, equal 
to 28,230,000 acres. An average corn crop in Illinois is fifty bushels to the acre. Sup- 
posing the whole of the area to be devoted to corn growing, the ordinary annual yield 
would be, in round numbers, 1,413,000,000 bushels! Are these figures startling? They 
are inside of what misiht be done. 

But we must leave this branch of our subject, although it is far from being exhausted, 
to say a few words upon the crop of 1855. And here again the U. S. census returns of 
1850 constitute no safe criterion. The crop of 1849 was less than an average one in Illi- 
nois. According to the returns it was as follows : — 



78 

Indian Corn, ......... bu. 57,646,984 

Oats, 10.0S7.241 

"Wheat, .......... 9,414,575 

Eye, .......... 83.364 



Total, ......... 77,232,164 

This was the product of a short crop, with a total population of 851,470, and with an 
area under cultivation of 5,039,545 acres. It must also be borne in mind that prices were 
comparatively low, and that there were less than 100 miles of completed railroad in the 
State, from which facts it will be seen that nothing like the present stimulus to production 
existed. We are told by old farmers, in whose sound, practical judgment we have every 
confidence, that the product per acre in 1855 is nearly double that of 1849. If this be 
true, and if there had been no enlargement of the area cultivated between those periods, it 
would give as the total grain crop for 1855, nearly 175,000,000 bushels. But the area has 
been immensely increased since 1840 — probably if we were to say, 10,000,000 acres, we 
would not overstep the bounds of truth. Upon the subject of the crop of 1855, we are in 
possession of direct information from some of the most intelligent men of the State, and 
from nearly every county in it, on which we venture the following estimate : — 

Indian Corn, . . . . . . . . . bu. ISO.000.000 

■Wheat, .......... 20,000,000 

Oats, Barley, and Eye, ........ 50,000.000 



Total, 250,000,000 

This estimate we believe to be under, rather than over, the actual result. If any objec- 
tion is raised against it, it will doubtless be with respect to the corn crop, the figures for 
which are truly startling to those who have not duly considered the subject. An observa- 
tion extended over a large portion of the State last summer, together with a large mass 
of information obtained from others, warrants us in saying that the breadth devoted to 
corn, last year, was four times as great as that of all other grains. In 1849, ten counties 
alone in the State produced over 18,000,000 bushels of corn. We subjoin the list for the 
satisfaction of our readers : — 

Sanaamon, .......... 3.318.000 

Morcan, .......... 2,693.000 

.'\d;inis, .......... 2,092.000 

Ma.'cupin, ......... 1.598,000 

Fulton, .......... 1,430,000 

Knox, • . ....... 1.570,000 

Pike, i;375,000 

Cass 1,417,000 

Vermilion, .......... 1,475.000 

Green, .......... 1,346.000 



Total, 18,314,000 

We are told, on authority, that we cannot call in question, that the corn crop of 1855 in 
Sangamon County was twice as large as ever before. If it had increased none since 
1849, the aggregate for the present year would reach nearly 7,000,000 bushels ! Sanga- 
mon County has" an area of about 900 square miles, which gives more than eleven bush- 
els of corn "to the acre for the whole county ! And this is but one of the hundred counties 
comprising the State. Will any one venture to say that our estimate is too large } If so, 
let him consider the following figures, showing the amount of grain which reached tliis 
city the present year by oulytwo of our thoroughfares : — 

*By Galena Railroad, bn. 10,165,107 

By Canal, 5,716,300 

Total, 15,881,407 

Let it be borne in mind, that a large part of this aggregate consists of corn, that it is 
corn of the growth of 1854, that the corn crop of that year was almost a failure, owing to 
an unprecedented drought, and then consider, if a season of universal scarcity gives such 
results, what may we not expect a season of more than ordinary fruitfulness to do ? The 
actual fact, in the completeness of its magnitude, can of course only be known at the 
close of the next year, when the immense surplus of this year's corn crop shall have 
been brought to market ; but these figures, in connection with those which precede them, 
are certainly conclusive as to the reasonableness of the estimates we have given above. 

We had intended in this article to give some facts and estimates respecting cattle and 
hogs within the State, but this article has grown so much upon our hands, that we must 
bring it to a close. It may be v.-ell enough to remark, however, that such a surphis as 
our figures indicate will require all the rolling stock of our railroads, all the warehouses 
of our city, all the shipping of our port, and all the money facilities that the banking 
capital of the city and State can furnish, to move it to market. — Democratic Press. 

* This amount includes receipts by the main track of the Illinois Central and the Chicago, Bur- 
lington, and Quiacy roads. 



79 



STATISTICS OF TOWNS 



THE ILLINOIS CENTBAL RAILROAD. 1856. 



ilAIN LINE. 

Dunleith, 

Menominee,... 

Galena, 

Council Hill,. 
Scales Mound, 
Apple River,. 

Warren, 

Nora, 

Lena 

Eleroy, 

Freeport, 

Forreston, . . . 

Polo 

Woosung 

Dixon, 

Amboy 

Sublette, 

Mendota,*... . 

Homer, 

La Salle 

Tonica, 

Wenona, .... 
New llutland, 

Minonk, 

Panola, 

Kappa, 

Hudson, 

Bloomington, 
Heyworth, . . . 

Wapella, 

Clinton, 

Maroa, 

Decatur, 

Macon, 

Moawequa,.. . 

Tacusa, 

Pana, 

Oconee, 

Ramsey, 

Vandalia, .... 
Shobonicr,... . 

Fatoka, 

Sandoval 

Centralia 

Rich view,... . 

Ashley, 

Coloma, 

Tamaroa, .... 
Du Quoin, . . . 
De Soto 



18-53 

No 
1835 
1828 
18.50 
1854 
18.50 
1852 
1853 
1850 
1838 
1855 
1854 
1855 
1839 
1850 
1855 
1853 

No 
1839 
18-50 
185-5 JNone 
1856 None 
1854 None 



5 

town 

6,000 

300 

14 

None 

25 

Non 

18 

1,400 
None 
None 
None 

540 

16 

None 

None 

town 

200 



1853 
1853 
1836 
1832 
1856 
1853 
1845 
1855 
1829 
1854 



None 

None 

25 

2,200 
None 
None 

800 
None 

600 
None 



1853iNone 

13-55 iNone 
185-5 1 None 



1855 
1856 
1820 
1856 
1855 



None 
None 
360 
NoneiNone 



700 

yet 

9,-500 

400 

256 

140 

350 

300 

350 

225 

5,000 

90 

550 

54 

3,200 

1,329 

185 

1,800 

vet 

3,500 

180 

53 

None 

70 

150 

150 

103 

5,-500 

15 

275 

1,-500 

6 

2,200 

28 

300 

40 

250 

70 

5 

1,000 



None 



18-54 INone 
1854 j None 
1840 1 65 
1854iNone 
1856 'None 
18-54 None 
1853 None 
1 1854 .None 



20 
120 
600 
525 
1.50 
40 
48 
125 
500 



1,800 
form'd 
12,000 
500 
292 
2()0 
800 
400 
468 
750 

6,000 
1-53 

2,500 
105 

4,500 

2,500 

1,098 

1,400 
form'd 

7,250 
240 

1,200 
70 
130 
195 
238 
110 

7,000 
200 
350 

1,600 
28 

4,000 



400 

.40 

850 

80 

75 

1,600 

23 

18 

120 

1,900 

718 

300 

113 

60 

300 

500 



260 

here 

2,500 

120 

40 

40 

150 

78 

116 

150 

1,600 

30 

500 

30 

515 

350 

1-58 

242 

here. 

1,550 

50 

300 

12 

28 

39 

47 

23 

2,986 

20 1 

73, 

350 

3 

800 



1 2 



13 22 
3 
2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
3 
8 
1 
13 
1 
8 
2 
71 



13 



148 



51 t 



UI123 

2; 4 



150 

7 
86 

22l.. 

10 1 

265 4: 

3 .. 

5 .. 

301.. 
275| 2 
1-56, 2 
100 2 

24 1 

17j.. 

40.. 

80.. 



1 
'21 2 

i 






Well cultiv ated b ack of to wn 



13 



3 30 



211 



This is a m' 

7,000 10,000l 

6,900, 8,-320 

3,000, 5,000 j 

6,000 8,000 

10,600 15,320 

No re turns. 

No re turns. 

22,000 37,000 

9,000 10,500 

12,000 14,0(10 

l,450i 2,800 

20,000 25,000 

22,000 32,000 

3,800| 4,680 

25,200 28,800 

16,000 21,000 

7,000 10,000 

21,500 23,600 

25,000 40,000 

4,3601 9,500 

6,700 i 9,000 

18,000 24,000 

12,740 21,000 

10,000 16,890 

40,000 65,000 

20,000 30,000 

11,20015,800 

2,500| 8,500 

3,500! 6,500 

24,000;47,0C0 

No re turns. 

25,000,44,000 

2,000| 3,500 

2,000; 2,500 

1,, 300 10,000 

6,20011,700, 

1,(:00; 2,400: 

1,500 2,000 

400 900 

300 800 

l,500l 1,800! 

3,000 15,000 

6,000' 



mmg count rv. I. .. 

4.000 4,000: "50 1 40 
10,400;i2,480, 72 79 

2,-500 ! 2,0001 70 

6.0001 7,000| 50 
5,200 7,060 SO 



15,00023, 

6,5001 7. 

9,000ll0, 

3,800| 4, 

24,000 30! 

34,000'47' 

3,000| 3. 

32,40043, 

19,C00l35, 

20,00025. 

'28,.500!3S; 

20,300i38. 

8,00010! 

5,100| 0; 

12,000:16, 

'30,10035, 

20,0(0 23. 

45,000 '00; 

18,000 25, 

2].500!28, 

32,000'35, 

! 4,000| 4, 

50 C00|78, 



000 
000; 
000' 
200! 
000 
000 
.580 1 



84 
72 
80 
58 
1-50 
100 
7 
70 
80 
100 



,200 100 
000] 60 
000 125 
000 180 160 
000 100140 
,000 128 1 73 
,500 179 1-38 
000 100 120 
220' go! 80 
920: 21! 15 
000'400 6(.'0 
000; 70 L50 
000 140 200 
000: 75100 
600' 26i 40 
000! 100 120 



2,000 
1,000 
4,200 
2,000 
4,320 



5,000 
6.740 
6,G40 
8,200 



4,000! 7 
I 4, 000 I 5 
12,000,15 
'20,000!l5 
,15,6(10,22 

4,000| 6 

3,000 

1,800 

1,400 

5,000 
35,000!40 

8,00010 

8,000 9 
18,00021 
12,40012, 
12,00015 



,000 SOI 50 
,500 25! 40 
,000 25; 32 
,000! 15 13 
,200| 6! 10 
,000 20,1 OG 
,000j 15i 2(; 
,.500 7 30 
OOOj 10; 23 
000, 90,105 
000 oOl 60 
000 50| 84 
000! 38! 54 
000| 31 1 .59 
000! 12: 32 
600142'215 



* At Mendota the decrease in population is owing to the withdrawal of some hundreds of laborers, who were 
employed in the construction of the Kailroad. 



80 



STATISTICS OF TOWlJ^ ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 1856. 



Carbondale,. . 
Makauda,* . . 
Jonesboro',.. . 

Wetaug 

Ulliti, 

Pulaski, 

Villa Ridge,.. 
Cairo, 

Chii-ago Branch line. 

Calumet, 

Thornton 

Matteson, .... 

llicliton, 

Monec, 

Peotono 

Manteno, . . . . 
Kankakee,. .. 

Chebanse, 

Ashkum, 

Onarga, 

Spring Creek, 

Loda, 

Pera 

Rantoul, .... 

Urbana 

Tolono, 

Pesotuni 

Okaw, 

Mattoon, 

Neoga, 

Effingham, .. 
Edgewood, .. 

Farina, 

Tonti, 

Odia 



1853 
18-5i 
1818 
18-5ri 
1831 
1854 
18-54 
1SJ3 



1838 
1853 
18-56 
1853 
18-50 
1856 
1854 
1853 
1851 
185-5 
1854 
1852 
18-55 
18-55 
1856 
1835 
1856 
18-54 
185-5 
1855 
1856 
18.55 
1856 
18-56 
1856 
18-56 



None 
14 

^5S4J 
None 
None' 
None| 
None, 
3')0; 1 



None, 

None 

10! 

1451 

None 

None} 

None 

None 

None 

Nonej 

1;5| 

None! 

None 

None 

500 

Just' 

None! 

Nonej 

None[ 

■Just| 

None 

Just: 

Just 

Just! 

Just 



3-50 
22 

804 
40 

110 

100 
.50 

330 

1-50 
120 



20 
350 
None 
175 
2,500 
25 
None 
100 
38 
100 
3! 
None 
1,561 
laid 
16 
2 
150 
laid 
25 
laid 
laid 
laid 
laid 



700 

50 

1,209 

12) 

250 

150 

96 

3,000 



247 

168 

No re 

500 

800 

.34 

750 

3,640 

600 

50 

320 

110 

174 

28 

125 

3,235 

out. 

33 

20 

472 

out. 

200 
out. 
out. 
out. 
out. 



110 

4 

1 263 

! 23 

33 

30 

12 

400 

56 

31 

tu rns 

47 

80 

8 

200 

820 

125 

6 

64 

15 

31 

4 

21 

367 



II 4 



41 
113 



41 



210 
1 



13 



1 .. 



ii'i 



3,noo 

4,200 
21.000 



4,500 6,200l 8,000 SO 

6,200 4,500, 5,640 10 

24,50O'.13,000'47,O0O118 



,200 10,000: 6,000 9,400 
15,000 20,000 25,000 40,000 



3,000 
This 
This 



49 



C,500j 4,100j 4,500 15 
is in a limbe r conn try 
is in a' timbe r coun try 



58 
28 
231 
132 
126 
21 



A gra zing d istrictj 
7001 840! 1,100 



3,000 
1,300 



800 1,200 
700 1,3001 

3,5oo| 6,noo; 

10,600;i2,400 
6,0001 8.000 
260 2,000' 
5, 250| 12,520 
3,000| 4,200 
1,000| 1,500! 
40011,000i 
210! 1,080, 



4,240| 
5,680 
2,600 
3,140 
1,500 
2,000 
3,000 
5.000 
1,500 
3,000 
1,800 
740 



000 
18,964 
4,800 
8,410 
6,400 
8,000 
5.000 
9,000 
4,000 
6,500 
7,400 
2,540 



3,000| 4, 

4,500i 7 

3,400: 8 

14,500 15 

10,000 22 

1,500] 3 

1,8001 3 

8,100,10 

2,340 3 

3001 2 

2,460| 4 

2,000' 3 

12,000 13, 

5,000! 8, 

4,270: 6 

60,000 78 

65.000 84 

42,000 61 

12,000 18 

11,000 21 

10,000 16 

9,400 17, 

14,000:20 

I 



000 300 2(0 



97 



,400 40 
,780 58 
,900 52 
,480 40 
,460,105 
,600' 26 
,500 84 12-1 
,000 117 135 
,000, 4l!l92 
,450l 78 32 
,000! 20 50 
,0001 18 65 
,000l 34 46 
,000! 20 61 
,000 15 40 
,000' 14 32 
,000; 11 43 
,000, 37 80 



* Around Makauda upwards of 9000 acres are planted with Peach trees alone. 



The above tables are intended to show the exact state of each town at the clo^e 
of the year 1856. At some of these stations small settlements existed before tlu- 
organization of a town, which accounts for population appearing on the statement, 
in a few instances, before the date given for its organization. 

Corn and Wheat being the great staples of Illinois, it has been thought best Id 
give them the most prominent position, merely making a note where grazing oi- 
fruit growing entirehj supplanted them. 

The amounts under cultivation ajiply to a circumference of from five to ten 
miles from tlie stations, and do not, therefore, include the back settlements, where 
it Avould be too extensive an undertaking to obtain exact statistics. 




a~. 



'^^^^^ 



f 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD 



CARRYING THE 



GREAT SOUTHERN MAIL AND NEW ORLEANS EXPRESS, 

RUNNING THE ENTIUE LENGTH OE THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, 

FROM CHICAGO, OR DUNLEITH, TO CAIRO. 



TWO DAILY EXPRESS PASSENGER TRAINS will leave (Sundays excepted) 
Chicago and Dunleith for Cairo, and Cairo for Duxleith, and Chicago, making 
direct connections with Trains of all Railroads running East or West. 

Passengers from the East for St. Louis, Springfield, Bloomington, Naples and 
Jacksonville, will save time by taking the ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD, it being 
the most direct Railroad Route between Chicago and St. Louis. 

Passengers from the Southeast, for Burlington, Rock Island, Iowa City, Galena, 
Dubuque, Dunleith, St. Paul's, Chicago, and all points in the North and Northwest, 
will save time and money, and have less changes of cars andbaggage, by securing their Tickets 
via Terre Haute and Pana, and arrive hours in advance of the Michigan City Route. 

The opening of this direct line of Railroad between CHICAGO and CAIRO affords to 
the people of Eastern and Northern Cities, the quickest and most comfortable passage to 
all places in the Southern and Southwestern States ; relieving them from a great part of 
the River Navigation, and that which has been heretofore so objectionable and dangerous 
to travellers. At Cairo, the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi, the River is 
navigable at all seasons of the j'ear, and Passengers have the privilege of selecting the 
most secure and comfortable Steamers th.at float on either River. 

The Illinois Central Railroad Company, for the accommodation of the Travelling 
Public, have erected, at suitable intervals along their line, large and commodious Hotels, 
unsurpassed, in means of comfort and accommodation by ahy Railroad Hotels in the Union. 

DIRECT CONNECTIONS BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH: 

At Dunleith, with a Daily Line of Steamers to and from La Crosse, Prairie Duchien, 
St. Paul, and all intermediate points on the Upper Mississippi. 

At FREEroRT, with Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, to and from Chicago, Beloit, 
]\Iadison and Janesville, and from thence to all parts of Wisconsin. 

At Dixon, with Dixon and Iowa Central Railroad for Fulton and Lyons. 

At La Salle, with Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, to and from Rock Island, 
Davenport and Iowa City. 

At Mendota, with Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, to and from Burlington, 
Quincy, and all points in Central Iowa. 

At Peoria Junction, with Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, to and from Peoria, 
Galesburg, Burlington and Quincy. 

At Decatur, or Tolono, with Great Western Railroad, to and from Springfield, 
Jacksonville, Naples, a»d towns on the Illinois River, also with Lake Erie and Wabash 
Railroad, to and from Lafayette, Fort Wayne and Toledo. 

At Pana, or Mattoon, with Ten-e Haute, Alton and St. Louis R. R. to and from St. Louis, 
Terre Haute, Indiana^polis, Columbus, Cincinnati, Wheeling, Baltimore, and Washington. 

At Sandoval, or Odin, with Ohio and Miss. R. R. to and from Vincennes and St. Louis. 

At St. Louis, for Jeflerson City, and all points in Kansas and Nebraska. 

At Cairo, with U. S. Mail Steamers, (Daily,) for Memphis, Natchez, Vicksburg, New 
Orleans, and all points on the Lower Mississippi. 

Through Tickets can be procured at all Bailroad Offices. 

JAMES C. CLARKE, 

JOHN CORNING, Master of Transportation, 

General Passenger Agent, Buffalo. NY. CHICAGO, III. 



y:^r^^ 



% 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



016 090 205 n * 



